


A sky full of stars and you were looking at me

by blue_dragonfly



Series: Changing the Past to Create a Better Future [1]
Category: Original Work, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Altean Lance (Voltron), BAMF Allura (Voltron), BAMF Lance (Voltron), BAMF Pidge | Katie Holt, Cute Keith (Voltron), F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Hunk (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) Has ADHD, Lance (Voltron) Has Self-Esteem Issues, Lance (Voltron) Has a Praise Kink, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Lance's Sister - Freeform, M/M, Minor Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Multi, No Smut, Other, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), The Gorgeous Man: A Coran Zine, Unless I forget, its very obvious, smol keith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2020-11-24 08:30:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 36,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20904686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_dragonfly/pseuds/blue_dragonfly
Summary: - I don’t pay attention to the world endingit has ended for memany timesand began again in the morning-The war had ended, they had lost some and gained some along the way but they had won. It was expected for everyone to stay on Earth and rest but they all zoomed off to do other things, parting ways and leaving everyone to recover by themselves when they should be healing together.And, it seemed that Gabriella McClain, Lance’s twin sister, was the only one who saw the problem. She just had to find a way to fix everything, even if she was doing it alone.But when Gabby wishes upon a shooting star, she doesn’t expect to stumble into a portal and travel back six years to the exact night he goes missing. And, then Gabby finds Lance on the roof and accidentally gets pulled along for the Voltron adventure in a robotic cat with the other paladins.With no way of getting home and the power to now change Lance’s future doom of working at the family farm, Gabby decides to fiddle around with fate a little even though she has no idea what she’s doing. But she does know that her one goal is to make sure Lance does not end up alone at the end of this, even if it costs her.





	1. This is not the way it should end, it's the way it should begin

**Author's Note:**

> This story is after canon where my OC, Gabby (Lance's sister), gets transported back to the night when Lance and Hunk snuck out and found Pidge on the roof, blah blah blah. 
> 
> Some notes:  
\- Klance is the best and is in this  
\- Gabby does not know what happened with Lance up in space so just has before and after knowledge so she is as confused as the others  
\- She sort of knows the others, seen them at the Garrison and meet them after the war (she knows Hunk and Pidge though)  
\- Gabby does not have a lion, she helps in the castle but when Lance moves to red, she takes the blue lion because I don't really like Allura in a lion (sorry to Allurance fans, it's in the tags but its not in the book) and Coran can't control the castle by himself! She will go in Gabby's lion to help though if she must  
\- I won't bash any characters but the bad ones (lotor is half and half) and I won't bash any ships either but Lance is my favourite so there will be angst for him  
\- My character is named after me, sorry if thats weird but I wrote this for you guys to read and my own entertainment so yeah  
\- I can write everything but romance and good action so sorry if it sounds sucky (if you guys can give any advice, please comment it!)  
\- Yes, Gabby is Lance's twin sister but don't worry Rachel is still there but she's like a year older than them  
\- There are more siblings and people in Lance's family because its not big enough for me, they will be mentioned later  
\- Other than Gabby and other family members, there are no other new characters other than maybe some weird pet Gabby finds and keeps  
\- It says 80 chapters becuase like the intro, all 78 episodes and then the epilogue but like it will probably be shorter, I'm just estimating  
\- EVERYTHING IS SITLL CANON LIKE ALL THE MISSIONS ARE THE SAME EXCEPT THERE IS AN EXTRA PERSON AND SOME MINOR THINGS MAY BE DIFFERNT but like Keith leaving and Shiro "dying" or whatever is still in there  
\- Please enjoy and leave comments, kudos and bookmark this so you don't miss an update (I will try to update as much as i can and as quick as I can but please remember I have school and lots of other fanfics to write as well so please me paitent)
> 
> I will let you know if this book is on hold or discontinued (but that will only ever happen if my hands break and even then I will use my feet or something)
> 
> Please enjoy this book!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Prologue l -  
  
It was over. The war was finished and now everyone had packed up and seperated off to recover. Half off in space while the others found things to keep them occupied on Earth. Everything was fine, people had their families back. It was all great and all thanks to the paladins of Voltron.  
  
So why does it feel like nothing has changed and they're all stupid teenagers who just can't accept the fact that they need each other?

**______________________________________________________**  


**I can't get you out of the sunlight**  
**I can't get you out of the rain**  
**I can't get you back to that one time**  
**'Cause you and me are still recovering**  
  
**So let's just try to cool it down**  
**This fighting is feeding the flames**  
**So lets try to slow it down**  
**We crash when we race**  
  
**Oh this is not the way that it should end**  
**It's the way it should begin**  
I**t's the way it should begin, again**  
  
**\- Begin Again by Colbie Caillat**

  
**__________________________________________________**  


It was over. The war was finished and we had won. We had lost some and gained some but it didn’t matter because everyone could rest now knowing we were safe. But it seemed as soon as the fighting has ceased, the paladins of voltron moved on instantly, taking no time to heal. Half of them left for space while the rest began new projects on Earth. Lance, though, did neither and moved back to Cuba to help with the family farm. 

Lance returning home from four years of being in space was something I had never expected. I had assumed him to be dead and I was shocked with myself that I even thought of that. Having Lance was like the life of the party had come back, like the better half of me was back in his spot, right next to me. But never in my 21 years on Earth had I ever thought Lance would decide to work on the farm. 

The farm was for the kids to help out and understand that you have to work for things and for the adults to earn a bit more money during the harvest. It was not for 21 year olds who were depressed and sad. I understood Lance had lost a lot along the way: his home and family for four years, his youth, both his lions, his “girlfriend” that I never got to meet, and now the only people who understand what he’s going through. 

I may be Lance’s twin sister but I shouldn’t be the one responsible for getting Lance to the next stage, healthy moving on. But I guess I was alone for this part, not even the rest of the family could see what Lance was going through like I could. I sighed, if only I knew what exactly happened up in space. I only knew small, vague parts that didn’t click together and if I ever brought it up with him, he would change the subject. I didn’t want to force him but if he keeps acting like this, I would have to.

The one thing Lance seemed to have not lost was his humour and his golden heart, even though I had never experienced what he’d gone through, our sibling bond was still the same. Things were different though. After his girlfriends sacrificed herself for the universe, he received Altean marks from their last kiss. They were an ocean blue and I found that ironic, his first lion was blue, he loved the ocean and his eyes were the same shade. I know that his girlfriend did that to give a part of herself to him but now this makes moving on harder. Everytime he looks in the mirror, he’s faced with Altean marks. 

The one good thing about them was that Lance decided to talk with the kids at the new Altea, about his girlfriend, Allura, of course but it was better than nothing. I loved new Altea it was so beautiful. I knew Lance went there because there was a huge statue of Allura but I went because of the views, and so my brother didn’t get drunk on Altean wine and try to drown himself in the river like last time. It was a problem we were currently trying to overcome.

It was one day when Lance had randomly stated that he wanted to go to the new Altea. I obliged and followed him there. We walked around, talked to some kids and saw what new things were going to be added. At 8 pm, I lost Lance in a crowd so I wandered around and I found myself outside in front of Allura’s statue. I knew at some point I would have to go and find Lance, make sure he was coping alright but looking up at the stars, I realised that I wanted to go explore space still. I knew I couldn’t though, Lance needed me more than ever right now. I would have to wait until he was better and I had no idea how long that would take.

A shooting star flashed by in the sky and I shut my eyes and whispered, “Please, please let some miracle happen. Please let things start over so Lance can recover properly. Let him have his youth back, his happiness not just for my sake but for his sake, please.” 

Someone coughs behind me and I gasp, spinning around to see a small Altean child with dark brown skin and white hair, almost an exact replica of Allura but as a kid. “Hello, do you want to begin this again?”

I was confused by what the girl meant, start life over or start the war over? I just nodded, “My brother is in pain because of the loss of his girlfriend and because of the war.”

The girl looks up at the statue, “Well it seems that you just happened to be in the right place, come with me.”

She walks back into the castle and I steal a glance at Allura’s statue and I can feel it watching me. _If this is you trying to fix what’s wrong, I hope you know what you’re doing._ I follow the girl down hallways, twists and turns before she runs off. I look around, trying to find the little girl but she had disappeared. I sighed, just a stupid scam. 

I continue down the hallway to find a small door at the end. Curiosity hits me, what’s in there? I open it to see a pink and white portal. _What?_ I reach my hand out and touch it. My hand goes right through. I freak out, jumping back and I’m about to slam the door close when something from behind pushes me in. I turn my head before I enter it to see the little girl, except she’s older and I can tell she is not a look a like of Allura, she is Allura. She smiles and whispers a structure of words that fill my head, making me wonder, _what does she mean?_

The portal swirls around me as I drift off to some other land. I start to fall asleep, my eyes drooping. I do not think of Lance, who is somewhere still partying or crying or my family who do not know what is happening right now, all I can hear are the words that Allura uttered, over and over in my head:

  


_with this spell,_  
_i invoke Father Time_  
_i grant you the time you need_  
i grant you the secrets you wish to see  
_but to turn back the clock_  
_you must do it again_  
_you must begin again to_  
_change the past to shape the future_  
_into something better_  
_Where all desires are met_  
_And all love is set_  
  
Somewhere, on another land, a small girl with dark skin and white hair, pink marks underneath her eyes, smiles and lays down in her bed knowing that she can finally rest. She mutters a few words before her form crumples up and vanishes. Her last words are carried across the land:

_Take care, Guardian._

  
**________________________________________________**  


**All of my friends moved away**  
**To somewhere bigger, better**  
**Maybe they had no reason to stay**  
**But I still remember**  
**The weekends we’d be on my bedroom floor**  
**Hear the music they don’t play no more**  
**It still feels like yesterday**  
  
**I get homesick in my hometown**  
**‘Cause everything looks different now**  
**And it all changed, I don’t know why**  
**Then again, so did I, did I, did I**  
  
**\- Homesick by Will Jay**  
**_______________________________________________**


	2. you already bought a ticket and there is no turning back now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Chapter 1 -  

> 
> The Garrison is the same as Gabby remembers it. Same smell, same look, same people... same teachers. She doesn't expect, though, to return to her 17 year old body, or run into an old friend. And then she is somehow part of a rescue mission and runs away from the Garrison with all five paladins to the desert 
> 
> Now she has to wonder: 
> 
> Where will fate take them next?

**_______________________________________________**  
**You're alone**  
**You're on your own**  
**So what, have you gone blind**  
**Have you forgotten what you have and what is yours?**  
  
**Glass half empty, glass half full**  
**Well either way you won't be going thirsty**  
**Count your blessings not your flaws.**  
  
**\- King by Laren Aquilina**  
  
**_______________________________________________**  
  


A bright light flashed in front of my eyes and I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. How long had I been asleep? My legs were cold and I felt cold tiles underneath me. Why was I on the floor? I blinked a few times as I looked around, where am I? Then the previous night’s events came flooding back and I gulped, where did I end up? 

I stood up slowly, my knees shaking. I immediately recognized this place, I was at the Garrison. What was I doing here? I stood up straight and frowned, I was shorter than I used to be. I glanced down at my body and my breath hitched. I was not 21 anymore, _how far back in time did I go?_. My breath came in short breaths and I felt my palms sweating, I needed a mirror. 

I raced down the hallways, desperately searching for a restroom with the hopes I wouldn’t bump into anyone. What time was it anyway? The light from the ceiling hit something and it reflected in my eyes and that made me notice the watch on my wrist. I peered down at it and the time was 9:45, almost curfew. If only I knew what year I was in when I remembered the badge on my uniform. Each year had a specific colour. Mine was silver, which meant I was in fourth year which also meant I was this year’s patrol monitor. I slowed down, if an officer caught, I had an excuse. 

The restroom sign on the wall made me sigh in relief. I walked into the female stalls and caught my reflection in the mirror, definitely fourth year. My hair was a lighter brown and I was wearing my old pair of glasses. My skin had a few blemishes and I was more lean, my limbs long, and awkward, like a normal teen was. I was pretty though, compared to my standards. Not the cutest girl here but pretty enough for me. 

Another girl enters the room, she looks familiar but I cannot put her face to a name. I decided to ask her a question, “Um, hello, what is the date today?” 

My voice is higher and softer and it takes me by surprise, I didn’t realise how high it was. The girl blinks at me, then laughs, “What’s with all that formality, Gabby? It’s the 7th of October though.” 

Then, a bunch of memories play in head, and I suddenly know who she is. This is my best friend, Sarah. She was the first person I ever met and also my roomate. I can’t believe I forgot her. I left the Garrison after Lance disappeared and when I came back two years later, Sarah wasn’t there anymore. I never saw her after that night. The night Lance disappeared which was the 7th of October, which is also today. _Oh_, I think to myself, _this was why I’m here._

Sarah stares at me weirdly, “You coming back to the dorm, it’s almost curfew.” 

I shake my head, “Nah, I have to patrol tonight,” I swiftly lie, “but I’ll see you later, okay?” 

She nods and I can’t take it anymore. I rushed up to her and envelope her in a tight hug, “Oh. What did I do to deserve the honour of a Gabby hug?” 

I smile, “Nothing, just being my friend already deserves you all my hugs.” 

She laughs, “Gosh, don’t go get all sappy on me. But, thanks. You deserve all my hugs too.” 

Sarah walks out of the bathroom and I know that’s the last time I’ll see her for a while but she earned a proper goodbye, not a stupid “I’ll come by later” like Lance gave me when he left. _Lance._ That reminds me of my new mission and I rushed out of the restroom. I have to find him before it’s too late. I stroll down the hallways, my head high. I was technically speed walking but with the confidence, I looked like I was simply walking. It was a trick Lance had taught me in our first year when I got caught out after curfew because I was running around. 

I shake out the thoughts and focus on finding Lance and probably Hunk and Pidge too. They did also go missing on the same night. I almost walked past it but I see the entrance to the roof open and I remember back to the night when Lance said he was going to pick up Pidge and Hunk for a guy’s night out. He told me he would come by later to tell me when they were back safely but he never did. In the morning was when I found out they had gone to the roof and rescued Takashi Shirogane and then disappeared on a hoverbike. It had to be them up there. 

Walking up the stairs, I keep my footsteps light and quiet and I make sure to shut the door silently behind me. I listen to my brother and his friend chat with Pidge and I realise how much I’ve missed this. I peer over from my hiding spot and I see a whole lot of tech that is not Garrison tech. I see Pidge connected to it with headphones, of course she made it. I roll my eyes. 

“You guys come here to hang out without me?” I say, coming out of my hiding spot. 

They spin around, scared they’ve been caught. But when Lance and Hunk relax, Pidge realises they know me. I’ve seen Pidge around but they are a new addition to Lance’s team and to the school. I amble up and take a seat on the floor next to them, “I’m Gabby, Lance’s sister and don’t worry about me, I’m not going to tell you to any officer. They wouldn’t believe me anyway because this tech looks super cool.” 

They shrug, a slight blush on their cheeks, “Oh, um thanks. I’m Pidge.” 

“Nice to meet you Pidge,” Then I address Lance and Hunk, “What are you guys doing out here?” 

Lance raises an eyebrow at me, “I could ask you the same thing. I thought you told me you were going to sit this adventure out out because you were tired? Hmmm?” 

I felt my face heat up, I forgot I had told Lance that before he left with Hunk to find Pidge. I just dismissed it, “Nah, I decided I should come out because I didn’t want you guys to get caught.” 

The two aww’d at me and I just rolled my eyes but Pidge was confused, “Why wouldn’t they get caught if you were with them? If you’re related to Lance, you have to be one of the least stealthiest people here.” 

Well, that was a hit in the face, I narrowed my eyes at her, “First off, I’m a patrol monitor, I have an excuse to be out late. Secondly, don't you ever insult me or Lance every again. I know Lance’s first impressions aren’t the best but once you get close to him, you’ll realise he is the kindest, most selfless person in the world.” 

They gulped, “Sorry, that was rude of me. I know what it’s like to have your family insulted,” Hunk wraps us both in a hug but they brush him off. I smile at Pidge, not with pity or sympathy but with understanding. They may not know that I know she’s actually Katie Holt but it’s always nice to know someone at least someone understands. 

Lance coughs, “Hey where'd you get this stuff? It doesn't look like Garrison tech." 

“I built it,” Pidge responds and I gasp, I assumed this wasn’t Garrison tech but never did I think they built it. I knew Pidge was smart from having conversations with them in the future but I didn’t think she was at this age. 

Hunk stares wide eyed at this, “You built all this?” He tries to touch the equipment but Pidge smacks his hand away. I giggle at Hunk’s shocked and disappointed expression. 

“Stop it!” Pidge yells at Hunk, “With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system.” 

Lance eyes the tech, “Is that right? All the way to Kerberos?” 

Pidge looks away, not saying anything. I can tell that they don’t want to talk about it but Lance doesn’t get the memo, “You go ballistic every time the instructors bring it up. What’s your deal?” 

I hit him on the arm, he winces and I glare at him. That was way out of line, even for him. Hunk goes in a second time while Pidge is distracted to try and touch the equipment again but Pidge sees it, “-Second warning, Hunk!” 

Hunk stops reaching for it and pouts, “Aw…” 

Lance speaks up, “Look, Pidge, if we’re going to bond as a team, we can’t have any secrets.” 

I roll my eyes, Lance, and even Hunk, have plenty of secrets I’m sure they wouldn’t want to share. Pidge sighs, “Fine. The world as you know it is about to change. The Kerberos Mission wasn’t lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake-” 

Hunk, again, goes to touch the equipment which Pidge sees and shouts, “-STOP TOUCHING MY EQUIPMENT!” 

I push Hunk away from it and he groans, sagging his shoulders in surrender. Pidge continues, “...So I’ve been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter.” 

Hunk looks up, frightened, “Whoa, what? Aliens?!” 

Lance shakes his head, “Ok, so you’re insane. Got it” 

I don’t say anything, interested in what Pidge has been hearing over the radio. “I’m serious! They keep repeating one word: “_Voltron_”. And tonight, it’s going crazier than I have ever heard it.” 

My breath hitches, “Voltron?” Is this how they found out about Voltron? 

Lance doesn’t hear me and neither does anyone else, “How crazy?” 

Pidge never gets to answer because the Garrison alarms sound off and suddenly I’m scared it’s because of us. I think back to when I heard this alarms in fourth year, how scared I was of Lance. Did they get caught back then? Will we get caught? 

But Iverson’s voice booms over the intercom, answering all her questions but also spurring more, “Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: All students are to remain in barracks until further notice. 

Before I can tell everyone to go back inside, or at least take shelter up here, a bright, fiery object appears in the sky. It is falling fast and right towards here. I move closer to Lance’s side as Hunk begins to panic, “What’s going on? Is _that_ a meteor?!” 

I shake my head, “If it was a meteor that would be a very, very big meteor.” 

Pidge grabs a pair of binoculars from next to her tech and I wonder if she knew it was coming. “It’s a ship!” She cries and I can’t tell if it’s in joy or fear. 

Lance steals the binoculars and looks right up at the object, “Holy crow! I can’t believe what I’m seeing!’ 

I take them off Lance and take a good look at the ship, “That’s _not_ one of ours.” 

Pidge nods, agreeing with me as I pass her back the binoculars, “No. It’s one of theirs.” 

Hunk, poor Hunk, is still confuzzled, “So wait, there really are aliens out there?!” 

The four of us watch as the alien ship crashes into the desert, near the Garrison. Land rovers are let out from their garage to the crash site by the Garrison. Whatever alien species will probably dead or contaminated by the time the Garrison deal with it. 

Pidge, though, is not as easily quitting and stands up, “We’ve gotta see that ship!” 

I hesitantly got up on one knee but Lance is up on his feet, ready to follow Pidge. He looks behind him to see Hunk and I, not so ready to go after a spacecraft from outer space. “Hunk, Gabby, come on!” 

We reluctantly run after them. I hear Hunk mumble underneath his breath, “Oh, this is the worst team-building exercise ever.” I chuckle in my head, Hunk really doesn’t know what’s coming. 

The four of us clamber down the hill and hide behind a nearby cliff, spying on the quarantined crash site. Lance has the binoculars in his hands, eyeing the alien ship, “Whoa.. What the heck is that things?!... And who the heck is _she?_” 

“Lance!” Pidge and I yell at him in unison. Pidge hits him for being distracted and I shove him over, taking the binoculars off him. Obviously, he was just saying that to lighten up the mood but he still could not be trusted. 

“Ow!” Lance rubs his arm where Pidge hit him and I sighed, looking around the ship with the binoculars, “We’ll never get past all those guards if we wanted to see what was inside.” 

Hunk snaps his fingers in dissapoint, ‘Aw, man. And I was looking forward to that, I guess there’s nothing else to do but head back to the Garrison, right?” 

Before any of us can answer him, most likely to put down his idea, Pidge speaks, ‘Wait, They set up a camera in there and I grabbed its feed. Look!” 

We all stare down at the computer Pidge had brought with her. On the feed showed a man, probably in his mid twenties with dark black hair and a small part of white on the front, strapped to a table. Garrison technicians examine him as he struggles to get loose. 

The man looks around frantically at the technicians, “Hey! What are you doing?” 

Iverson, the nerve of that guy, walks forward and presses a hand on his flesh arm, “Calm down, Shiro. We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests on you.” 

I gasp, “That’s Shiro!” 

Lance leans closer and recognizes his face, “The pilot of the Kerberos mission. That guy’s my hero!” 

“Guess he’s not dead in space after all,” Hunk added, still not too happy about being out here. 

Pidge doesn’t pay attention to us, moving the camera around, trying to see the whole tent, “Where’s the rest of the crew?” 

Shiro grabs at Iverson’s arm, “You have to listen to me! They destroyed worlds! Aliens are coming!” 

We all look at each other, Hunk looking scared. Iverson ignores Shiro, “Do you know how long you’ve been gone?” 

Lance groans, “What is Iverson doing?! He should be asking, ‘what happened?’ and ‘what aliens?’ and ‘when are they coming?’ Not ‘do you know how long you’ve been gone?’” 

“Unless,” I mutter, “Iverson already knows what happened.” 

Pidge glances at me and opens their mouth but Shiro speaks, “I don’t know. Months? Years? Look, there’s no time. Aliens are coming here for a weapon. They’re probably on their way. They’ll destroy us! We have to find Voltron!” 

We gasp once more and Pidge whispers, “Voltron!” 

One of the technicians steps up, pointing at Shiro’s metal arm, “Sir, take a look at this. It appears his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic.” 

Iverson stares at it, “Put him under until we what that thing can do.” 

Shiro starts to yell, “Don’t, don’t put me under! No! No, there’s no time! Let me go!” 

Pidge mumbled to themselves, “They didn’t ask about the rest of the crew.” 

Lance facepalmed as he watched the technician inject Shiro with something to put him to sleep, “Seriously what are they doing? The guy’s a legend and this is how they treat him? They’re not even gonna listen to him?”” 

I put on one of my many masks, this one dripping with leadership and confidence, “We have to get him out of there.” 

Hunk turns to look at me in surprise, I usually don’t like taking part in adventures like this. Pidge nods, “That’s exactly what I was thinking.” 

Hunk coughs, “Ah, I hate to be the voice of reason here but weren’t we watching it on TV because there was no way to get past the guards?” 

Lance brushes him off, “That was before we were properly motivated. We’ve just got to think. Could we tunnel in?” 

I raise an eyebrow in his direction, “I don’t think that’s the best idea. What about a disguise?” 

Pidge goes off like a lightbulb, “Maybe we could get some hazmat suits and sneak in like med techs.” 

“Or,” Hunk says, “we dress up like cooks, sneak into the commissary… little late-night snack.” 

I sigh, “Hunk, we need something to help us get in there, not into the kitchen. Maybe some weapons and a plan.” 

“...No,” Lance corrected, ‘What we need is a distraction.” 

As if they were waiting for Lance to say that, explosions go off in the distance and all four of us scream. Hunk begins to panic again, “Is that the aliens? Are, are they here?! They got here so, so quick!” 

“No,” Pidge dismisses him, “Those explosions were a distraction, for _him_” They point off down to a guy with black hair, around the same age as Hunk, Lance and I, arriving by hovercraft 

Pidge gasps as they look through the binoculars, realising the guy’s plan, “The Garrison’s headed towards the blast, and he’s sneaking in from the other side!” 

Lance once again takes the binoculars off Pidge, viewing the new guy, “No way! Oh, he is not going to beat us in there! That guys is always trying to one-up me!” 

We all are confused but Hunk asks, “Who is it?” 

“Keith!” Lance replies. 

I look up, “Wait, really? The one with the mullet?” I remembered Keith from the future and from the Garrison but I had only seen him briefly. I was pretty sure, though, that he had a mullet. Lance always said his hair was ugly and mullets are quite ugly. 

Lance nods but Pidge still doesn’t understand, “Who?” 

“Are you sure?” Hunk restated. 

Lance laughs, “Oh, I’d recognize that mullet anywhere!” 

I grin, “I knew he had a mullet!” 

Pidge still doesn’t know who Keith is, “Who’s Keith?!” 

As we run towards the quarantined area, I question Lance, “Wait, wasn’t Keith your supposed rival?” 

“He still is,” Lance responds. 

I lean in closer to him so Hunk and Pidge, “He was your crush wasn’t he?” 

Lance glances at me and his face softens, “Yeah,” Lance mutters, “yeah he was.” 

I smile, “Try not to make a fool of yourself in front of Shiro, or Keith.” 

He gives me a half smile back and I know that’s all I’m going to get back. I drop the subject, not before squeezing Lance’s hand as we continue to dash to the crash site. Love sucked but sadly, as soon as I finished with a crush, a new one immediately started. Lance had it as worse as I did. He flirted with everyone, for fun and so their confidence would rise, but only fell for a few. But when he fell, he fell hard and fast. Keith, so far, has been one of the strangest crushes I’ve seen Lance had and one of the fastest. 

We spot Keith entering and a shout, probably from Iverson. We can hear fighting happening inside and I wonder what Keith is doing to them. We arrive to see Keith having already cut Shiro free from his bonds and trying to carry him out. I see all three technicians and Iverson passed out in the back. 

Lance walks up to them, Nope. No you-“No, no, no, no, no, no, no you don’t,” He pushes the table away, “I’m saving Shiro.” 

Lance lifts Shiro’s metal arm over his shoulder, Keith having the other arm. He narrows his eyes at Lance, “Who are you?” 

I sigh, rubbing my face, this is not going to end well, “Who am _I?_ Uh, the name’s Lance.” 

Keith looks at Lance, no recognition at all. Lance tries again, “... We were in the same class at the Garrison?” 

While they continue to bicker, I spotted one of the technicians beginning to move. I stomp over there, ready to kick them back to unconsciousness while I see their mask off, face staring right at me. “Adam?” 

He smiles at me, wincing because wherever Keith hit him, he hit Adam hard, “Hey Gabs. How’s my lil sis going?” 

“Good,” I answer truthfully, “How, how are you?” I feel tears starting to slip out. The last time I saw Adam, he was getting on a ship to fight the Galra. I never saw him again. 

Adam chuckles, “Not doing so well, as you can see. Snuck in to see Shiro but got knocked out.” 

“Do you, do you want to come with us?” I ask, pointing to the rest behind me. 

He shakes his head, “That’s not for me. You go on ahead, I’ll distract Iverson for you guys.” 

“You’re, you’re not going to tell on us.” I ask, confused. 

“No, why would I do that. Your my sis and Lance is my bro. Nothing will ever change that.” He pats my shoulder, not being able to hug because he is still on the floor. 

“What about Shiro?” I’m desperately wanting Adam to join, he may die here without me. 

He sighs, “Gabby, I don’t belong wherever you are going. I’ll be fine, here, have this communications device so we can contact each other. I used it with Shiro when he left for Kerberos.” 

I smile, “Thanks Adam, oh and in a few years, these purple aliens will come. Don’t get on one of the fighter ships. Okay, don’t. Bye Adam.” Before he can answer, I’m already back with the others, hearing the last of the conversation between Keith and Lance. 

The two carry Shiro out of the site and Hunk sees the Garrison people returning, “Oh, man, they’re coming back and they do not look happy. We gotta go.” 

The four of us, minus Keith and Shiro, look around, realising we have no way to get back to the Garrison without being caught. I cough, “Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you?” 

It’s too late for Keith to say no because everyone begins climbs aboard Keith’s hovercraft and it tips slightly. I get on in the back, in between Lance and Pidge. Lance wraps an arm around me to keep me from falling off. 

“Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?” Pidge asks as Keith passes Shiro to the back. 

“No.” He answers, frustrated and angry. 

The Garrison appear so Keith takes off. Pidge is stuck holding Shiro. I try to take some of the weight but the wind is strong so I have to stop with only a quarter of Shiro on me. 

“Why am I holding this guy?” Pidge complains, as Shiro basically covers them. 

Hunk beams, “Hey, we did all fit!” 

“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Lance whines. I nudge him for being rude. Keith didn’t even want us with him in the first place. 

“We could toss out some non-essential weight.” Keith grunted back. 

“Oh right!” Lance exclaims, looking around before realising what it meant, “Ok, so that was an insult . I get it.” 

Keith shouts back to us, “Big man, lean left!” 

Hunk, assuming it is him, not because he is big but because the other three are as skinny as a twig. He complies and the hovercraft turns, causing Garrison rovers to crash. Hunk laughs as he looks behind him, “Aw man! Mr. Harris just knocked out Professor Montogemery! … No, no, he’s fine.” 

“Big man, lean right!” Hunk obeys and the hovercraft jumps one cliff to the next, causing another rover to crash. He looks ahead at the cliff’s edge, instantly paling. 

“Guys?” Hunk asks to us, ‘Is that, Is that a cliff up ahead?” 

I try to lean forward to get a look and it is a cliff. Lance starts shaking his head, “Ooooh no, no, no! No, no, no, no-!” 

Keith smirks, “Yup,” and increases speed. Everyone screams and Lance yells, “What are you doing?!” while I shout “ You’re going to kill us all!” 

“Shut up and trust me!” Keith warns as the hovercraft jumps off the cliff. 

We all scream, Lance tightening his grip on me. I can feel Pidge scooting closer to me. I close my eyes, _please don’t die, please don’t die._ I heard from Lance about what Keith did and how he safely landed but what if my extra weight, stopped him from doing so? Have I just killed us all? 

But, Keith avoids crashing when we get to the bottom. Sand flies up from the fans and I spit out a few grains. Keith continues to fly into the desert. I glance behind me, watching as the last few rovers stop, no one following us, no one brave enough or talented enough to make the drop. The Garrison is soon out of sight and I sigh. I thought I would of had more time there with my old friends but I guess not. My real mission starts now, make sure nothing happens to Lance, happens to any of them. They have a proper future ahead of them, after this war, and I need to make sure they get to have it. 

I relax into Lance’s arms and close my eyes, wanting to go to sleep. It was late and for me, it was even later since I had just come from a party and this was one exhausting night. In the morning I would track where we were and try and figure out where we were in the timeline of events from what future Lance had told me. I needed to be prepared. The future of these paladins are in my hands.  


**__________________________________________________**  
**Will you call me to tell me you’re alright**  
**‘Cause I worry about you the whole night**  
**Don’t repeat my mistakes, I won’t sleep ‘til you’re safe inside**  
**If you’re home I just hope that you’re sober**  
**Is it time to let go now you’re older?**  
**Don’t leave me this way, I won’t sleep til’ you’re safe inside**  
  
**Everyone had to find their own way**  
**And I’m sure things will work out okay**  
**I wish that was the truth**  
**All we know is the sun will rise**  
**Thank your lucky stars that you’re alive **  
**It’s a beautiful life**  
**\- Safe Inside by James Arthur**  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Hope you like the first chapter. A few things first:
> 
> \- This chapter follows the script a lot (sorry) but only because I don't remember this episode that much so ones that I do, it will be more free but others will be the same lines and stuff  
\- Sarah is an OC of mine  
\- I added Adam only bc I felt bad that he was just forgotten also I dont want him to die. originally, i was gonna have him also be form the future but I decided against it  
\- The songs don't really go with it but I don't really care  
\- some klance is coming up!!! Oooooooo
> 
> \- so this will mostly be gabby's pov and so that means the solo missions (like keith's and others) may not show up, but bc gabby isnt a paladin, she can stay in the castle and join the coms or look at the feed. she may also join them too bc im making her be like the healer. it may change pov's if i have too as well
> 
> I think that's it! Oh, the first episode, since it's so long, will take a few chapters. I hope you liked this chapter. I tried my best to make it seem like Gabby wasn't forced in. Please give me advice on how to make it better! Leave kudos!


	3. all of this seems like a dream so please don't fade away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Chapter 2-
> 
> There's something pulling Gabby to a specfic spot, to a cave with magicial drawings on the walls. She doesn't say anything though, she knows this is Lance's time to shine, not hers. 
> 
> And then, they find it. The blue lion. It's more majestic than the last time Gabby saw it. The paint is fresh, not chipped like before and her eyes seem to follow Gabby wherever she goes and luckily, Lance notices that as well. 
> 
> There's one problem though: 
> 
> Blue knows she's from the future and she's not happy.

**______________________________________________**

**And even if you’re scared**  
**You’re stronger than you know**  


**If you’re lost out where the lights are blinding**  
**Caught in all, the stars are hiding**  
**That’s when something wild calls you home, home**  
**If you face the fear that keeps you frozen**  
**Cause the sky into the ocean**  
**That’s when something wild calls you home, home**  


**\- Something Wild by Lindey Stirling**  
**______________________________________________**

It was cold during the night, surprisingly, only a small blanket covering my body. Lance had his arm wrapped around me but his body warmth was not enough. My shoulders keep shaking, teeth chattering and goosebumps covering my legs and arms. Not being able to sleep, I positioned myself sitting in front of the window. With no trees in the desert, there was a clear view of the sky. The stars were even more beautiful out here than they were at the Garrison. 

After a few minutes of staring up at the endless sky, I began to feel bored. My fingers were aching to do something so I decided to explore the small shack. I stepped over Lance and Hunk and made sure not to bump into the table or anybody. My foot, though, caught on something and I fell to the ground with a thud. I stopped breathing and listened for anybody waking up but no one did. I knew Lance was a deep sleeper because of all our siblings annoying him in the morning, he learnt to sleep through it all, something I never acquired. 

The thing I tripped on was in fact a backpack. It was the one Pidge had been carrying. Being curious, I zipped open the bag, making sure not to make too much noise. Inside was their computer, a diary, a few snacks and… a notebook. I flicked through it and other than a few sketches at the start, it was empty. The cover was a forest green, matching my eyes. I found a pencil at the bottom off the bag. _Well, I don’t think Pidge will mind if I borrow their notebook for one night?_

I took it with me to the window but the stars were covered up by the ceiling so I made the choice of going outside. There was a single chair on the porch and out there, I could see the sky clearing. It was a bit unsafe but the moon was bright enough that I would be able to see anything that came, hopefully. 

I shook the thought out of my head and began to map out constellations. First I spotted the Big Dipper and then the Little Dipper and right above that was Draco. Next to that was Cepheus, Pegasus and Lacerta. Underneath was Pisces, Andromeda, Triangulum and Cassiopeia. I took my time, I had the whole night after all. Below was Perseus and Aries. Camelopardalis and Lyra were after and so was Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. I wasn’t sure what the time was but after a while, around halfway through drawing the constellations, Lance appeared. 

He closed the door behind me and pushed me out of the chair, sitting down and then patting his legs for me to sit on them. I obliged, though I was a bit scared his legs would break, but he was strong enough. I soon relaxed into his touch, lying my head against his chest. Lance pointed out any constellations I missed, like Octans, Grus, and Aquarius. I finished the map a while later but the sun still hadn’t come up. Lance hummed to a song and I found myself drifting off to sleep, listening to Lance’s heartbeat. It reminded me that Lance was alive right here and if nothing went planned, at least I would have Lance. 

And that's how I found myself draped over Lance’s lap who was slouched in the chair, softly snoring. I giggled and got off of Lance, making sure not to wake him up. He deserved his beauty sleep. It was early, probably around 6:45. I was about to head inside when I spotted Keith and Shiro, who looked better than last night, out on a hill. They weren’t too far away and I heard a bit of their conversation. 

Keith spoke first, “It’s good to.. you back.” Shiro chuckles, “It’s good to be back.” 

There’s a pause before Keith talks again, ‘So...happened out there? Where… were you? 

“I wish I… tell you. My head’s still… pretty scrambled. I was on… alien ship… somehow I escaped. It’s all a blur. How did you… to come save me… I crashed?” 

Keith whispers something to Shiro I can’t hear and I know that’s my cue to leave. Lance shuffles behind me in the chair and I shake him awake. He stares up at me confused but I don’t let him replay last night’s events in his head because I’m already pulling him inside, where Pidge and Hunk are starting to wake up as well. Luckily, they didn’t notice we were gone or they did but they never get to ask because Keith and Shiro enter right after us. 

Lance flattened down his hair and checked his breath, which seemed reasonable to him. Keith pulled off the tarp covering a board which I hadn’t noticed to show a bunch of maps, diagrams and notes with red string connecting everything. 

“What have you been working on?” Shiro exclaims and I’m too jaw dropped to say anything. This was how Keith found Shiro and the blue lion? This was so… cool. 

Keith shrugged, “I can’t explain it, really. After getting booted from the Garrison-” 

“You, what?!” Shiro shouts, raising his hands over his head. 

Keith shrinks down, “I’ll talk to you about that later. So, I was kinda… lost afterwards… and felt myself drawn out to this place. It’s like something… some energy, was telling me to search.” 

Pidge speaks up, “For what?” 

“Well, I didn’t really know at the time,” Keith says, “...until I stumbled across this area. It’s an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings. Each tells a slightly different story about the blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some event, some arrival happened last night. Then you showed up.” 

No one said anything until Shiro coughed, “... I should… thank you all for getting me out. Lance, right?” 

Shiro offers Lance his prosthetic hand. I see Lance hesitate and I know it’s not because it’s a metal arm but because this is his hero. I was there when he used to fantasize about Shiro, having pictures all over his side of the bedroom. And now, his hero was right here in front of him. Lance shook his hand and inside, I was silently cheering for Lance. I bet he would've never imagined this would happen, that he would shake his hero’s hand, even if it was like this. 

Shiro gives his hand out to Pidge and Hunk but only Pidge does, Hunk shying away, this time because of the prosthetic. But the weird thing is, Pidge seems oddly comfortable around Shiro, like they’ve met him before as friends but Shiro doesn’t seem to remember them. It was probably just a one time thing so I don’t say anything. Pidge introduces themself and Hunk, “The nervous guy’s Hunk. I’m Pidge. So, did anyone else from your crew make it out?” 

I see Lance raised an eyebrow. He’s curious about what they want with the rest of the Kerberos team but I’m the only one, other than Pidge, who knows they are searching for their family. I feel bad because I know it is a long time before they tell us they are a girl and looking for their brother and father. I feel bad for them, losing your family is something I have understanding about and something I never want to experience ever again. No Lance for four years was already too much, I can’t do it once more. I don’t have anymore chances after this. 

Shiro shakes his head, “I’m not sure,” Pidge deflated but doesn't try to show it, “I remember the mission and being captured. After that, it’s just bits and pieces.” 

We all nod and Shiro goes to ask about me but Hunk butts in, “Yeah, sorry to interrupt, but back to the aliens. Where are they now? Are they coming? Are they coming for all of us? Like where are they at this very moment?” 

And then, Shiro forgets all about me. I don’t care though, it's not like I have blonde hair so I stand out between all the dark coloured hair. I just have dark brown hair like Lance’s and forest green eyes. It should be impossible. I’m the only one in eleven kids with green eyes, which come from grandpa on mama’s side. Mama has blue eyes and papa has brown eyes and then everyone else has either one or the other. I’m the exception. That’s the only thing that makes me different but here in this group, I’m just another Lance. 

Shiro stutters as he tries to answer, “I can’t really put it together. I-I remember the word “Voltron”. It’s some kind of weapon they’re looking for, but I don’t know why. Whatever it is, I think we need to find it before they do.” 

“Well last night, I was rummaging through Pidge’s stuff, and I found this picture. Look it’s his girlfriend,” Hunk holds up a picture of who I assume is Pidge and a girl. From the distance I’m at, even I can tell the boy is not Pidge and the girl has the same face as Pidge here. Is Pidge transgender? I’m not sure but I don’t want to say anything, it’s their place to say if they are, not mine. 

Pidge gasps, stealing the picture back, “Hey, gimme that! What were you doing in my stuff?” 

Hunk sheepishly grins, “I wa- I was looking for a candy bar. But then, I started reading his diary.” 

I widen my eyes, Hunk was invading someone’s privacy? Who was he? This was not like Hunk at all. It must be a bad day for Hunk, probably all this chaos happening. We did just force him along. I’ll try to stay on his good side, hug him a lot and stuff. 

Hunk pulls out Pidge’s diary and they snatch that out of Hunk’s hand as well, “WHAT?!” 

I decide this is the time to return the notebook as well, “Oh, um, Pidge.” 

They glance up at me, fury in their eyes, “What.” 

I feel my cheeks heat up, “Well, I borrowed your notebook last night, “ Their eyes narrow as I pass them back the book, “Only, um,only because I wanted to map the, uh, constellations. Here, on this page. I did nothing else. I usually do it each month and well I hadn’t this month and I was bored and couldn’t sleep and then I-” 

“This,” Pidge interrupts me, staring at the page with the map, “is really cool.” 

My eyes widen and I stamber out, “Really?!” 

Pidge nods, “This is all the constellations of last night, right, and they’re all accurately drawn. You did this by yourself?” 

I shake my head, “No, Lance joined me halfway through and helped me draw them. He also pointed out a few I missed. Lance was the top in his astronomy class.” 

“Can I see?” Shiro asks and he takes the notebook and Keith and him look it over, “Woah, this is incredible. What’s your name?” 

“Oh!” I said surprised, “I’m Gabby. Lance’s twin brother.” 

Keith gaps, “You’re twins?” 

Pidge laughs, “You didn’t see the resemblance? They literally have the exact same hair colour and skin colour.” 

“Plus,” Hunk adds, “once you get to know Gabby more, they have the same humour, all meme and vine related and super gen z.” 

“And,” Lance bragged, “we are both super beautiful.” 

I roll my eyes, “Ok, whatever. Were you going to say something Hunk before?” 

“Oh yeah,” Hunk says, grinning, “So I noticed that the repeating series of numbers the aliens are searching for looks a lot like a fraunhofer line.” 

Keith frowns, “Frown.. Who?” 

I explain this, “It’s a number describing the emission spectrum of an element.” 

“Except,” Hunk continues, “this element doesn’t exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron, and I think I can build a machine to look for it, kinda like a Voltron Geiger Counter.” 

Lance beams, hugging him, “Hunk, you big, gassy genius!” 

“It’s pretty fascinating, really. Th- The wavelength looks like this,” Hunk pulls out a graph of the wavelength and Keith grabs it from him, “Give me that.” 

He holds it up to the board, matching the wavelength’s appearance to a photo of an arrangement of boulders, a picture he had taken in the past, “That’s where we are headed.” 

“Ok, so a bunch of rocks.” I deadpan, not impressed. 

The others roll their eyes as Hunk prepares the device. I go onto the front porch while they bother about what parts are needed and stuff. I never really found engineering interesting or technical things in general. Though, it’s not much different outside, just sand and tumbleweeds. 

I hear something to the side, some footsteps, and I spin around, standing up, scared. Is it a snake? I really do not be bitten right now. But, instead, of some unwanted, poisonous snake, I see a small, tan fox. A fennec fox. It’s ears twitch towards me and it stares up at me. I bend down to the level, but I don’t go any closer. All the lessons my mama told me about not going near wild animals and rabies flood out of my mind as it inches closer. 

The fox just stares at me, as if I’m some amazing creature when I’m just a human. I don’t pat it of course, the fox is not used to being domestic and it may bite me. A door shuts behind me and I glance up, the fox not flinching but it’s ears move to the door. Keith is standing there, leaning against the railing, above where I am. 

“I see you’ve met Fleur.” 

Smiling, I nod, “Yes, she’s quite curious isn’t she?” 

“Yeah,” Keith says, “wouldn’t leave me alone for a week the first time we met.” 

I laugh and before I can say anything else, the door slams open and the others burst out, commotion frightening the fox, making it run away. I shush them but it’s too late, the fox is gone. Lance comes over, confused, but I brush him off, we have to get moving anyway. 

There’s an awkward silence, no one sure what to do next. Hunk than shouts, “I’ve got a signal!” and then everyone flocks around him. He begins to walk straight ahead and the others follow behind. Shiro is in the front, already becoming the leader. It’s a long walk and Pidge many times asks “Are we there yet?”, making everyone groan and complain. 

The team of all six of us finally arrive at the location with Hunk’s device. Lance glances at the landscape, a splitting image of the picture back at the shack, “... Ok, I admit it. This is super freaky.” 

Hunk holds his device up in the air, “I’m getting a reading.” 

He leads us into a cave with ancient carvings on the walls. The cave seems to go for a long way and the pictures spread all the way down as well. Shiro touches his hand on them, inspecting the drawings, “What are these?” 

I look closer, “Are those… lions?” 

Keith nods, ‘These are the lion carvings I was telling you about. They’re everywhere around here.” 

We all move forward, except for Lance who approaches a big craving of a lion. I stroll over to him, just as he places his hand on it. _Is this important to the timeline?_ The drawings burst to life, all of them glowing an ocean blue. I gasped in shock, _this was it, this was it._ Lance steps back, “Whoa… _Whoa!_” 

“Heh,” Keith stares at the cravings, “they’ve never done that before.” 

The ground collapses in, everyone screaming as they fall. I try and grab Lance, but I miss and end up hugging air. We land into a cavern of water and I spit out some, coughing. The others groan as they look up but Lance is already standing up, moving forward. I glance up to see the Blue lion in all her glory, inside a force field. 

“They are everywhere.” Lance whispers, memorized by the lion. 

I jog up next to him as Pidge asks, “Is this it? Is this the Voltron?” 

Shiro replied, “It… must be.” 

I laugh inside my head, wait until they get all the lions, they’ll get a big shock. Keith approached the Blue Lion, “This is what’s been causing all this crazy energy out here.” 

The rest of the team slowly follow behind, almost nervous and overwhelmed at the same time. I can feel what they are thinking, _if the Galra are killing for this, how dangerous is it? _

“Look like there’s a force field around it,” I say, touching it with my hand. I hear a voice in my head, [_it is not time yet, paladin._] Paladin? Does she think I’m Lance? [_You will understand later._] THough that does not answer my question, I accept it. 

Lance interjected, “Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?” 

Shiro eyes the lion than Lance with confusion, “Hmm… No.” 

I nod, “Yeah, the eyes are definitely following me..” The voice gets louder [_Patience paladin, you’re time will come._] 

Lance claps me on the shoulder, “See! I’m not the only one.” 

Keith walks closer to the force field and touches it, bracing himself for a sting or anything but there is no reaction. He frowns, placing both hands on it, feeling around for a clue, “I wonder how we get through this.” 

Lance saunters up, obviously about to make a joke, “Maybe you just have to knock.” And to my surprise, Lance literally knocks on the force field and with a flash of light, it dissipates and ignites the area around them in blue. An image of Voltron forming with all five lions enters my mind. It ends and I stumble backwards. 

Everyone but me and Hunk, who looks frightened, all say in unison, “Woah…” 

Lance turns around to look at everyone else, “Uh, did everyone just see that?” 

Hunk suddenly comes to life, “Voltron is a robot! Voltron is a huge, _huge_, awesome robot!” 

“And this thing,” Pidge continues, “is only one part of it! I wonder where the rest of them are.” 

Shiro just stares at the lion, “This is what they’re looking for.” 

“Incredible.” Keith declares under his breath. 

“What do we do now?” I add, not only to make sure I sound confused but because I am confused. Lance never mentioned finding the lion in a cave. He said something about finding it in the desert and then shooting Galra and then the wormhole and then the Castle of Lions, nothing else. 

The blue lion, as if waiting for my cue, lowers her head and opens her mouth, gesturing for us to go inside. This terrifies Hunk and Pidge but Lance, only after hesitating for a second, gleefully enters. I follow after him and then the others trudge in as well, not looking as excited as me or Lance. Lance takes the only seat in the cockpit and when I look around for one, the blue lion seems to form a seat for me, placing it next to but behind Lance’s. I don’t remember Lance mentioning more than one chair so I mentally thank the lion. 

Blue responds back, [_You are very welcome paladin._] I’m a bit flabbergasted but I tell Blue to call me Gabby and she agrees, saying she will. 

I plop down in the chair just as the others file into the cockpit. Lance grins, “Here we go.” and the seat jolts forward and mine as well, making Lance scream. I squeal exits my mouth and I blush but the attention is brought away from me as the screens activate. 

“Heheh,” Lance laughs, nervously, ‘Alright, nice kitty.” 

“Cool,” I state in awe, staring at the command console. 

“Ok guys,” Hunk trembed, I-I feel the need to point out, just so that we’re all, y’know, aware: We are in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now.” 

I remarked, “With all the crazy things that have happened in the past day, I’m not really stupefied.” 

Lance jumps away from the lion, “Whoa, did you guys just hear that?” 

Keith creases his forehead, “Hear what?” 

Lance ponders, trying to think of how to explain it, “I-I think it’s talking to me.” 

“I heard the lion talking to me before but not now.” I report watching as Lance presses buttons. I wonder if the lion is telling him what to push. 

“Hmm… Um…,” Lance thumbs a larger button and the Blue lion stands up and a deafening roar fills the air. I hear Hunk and Pidge scream. 

The Blue lion smashes the roof of the cave and bursts out into the sky and takes off flying, Lance holding onto the joysticks, doing somersaults and crazy turns and spins, making the team hold on for life on my chair and Lance’s. A seat belt wraps itself around my waist and I see one do the same to Lance. 

Keith shouts at him, “YOU ARE. THE WORST. PILOT. EVER.” 

Lance and I soon join in on the screaming as the lion does more stupid stunts and I feel as if maybe Lance hasn’t been doing anything. The lion was stuck there for 10,000+ years. Blue lands down on the ground and runs along the desert at top speed and Lance yells, “Isn’t this awesome?!” 

I roll my eyes, of course Lance thinks this is fun, and as Hunk pleads, “Make it stop! Make it stop!” I notice Lance is looking a little frantic. I realise Lance stopped touching the lion and is desperately trying to stop the lion, he doesn’t want to scare or disappoint his friend. 

“I’m not making it do _anything_,” Lance bellowed, “It’s like it’s on autopilot!” 

The blue lion takes off into the sky, twirling upwards. Keith shouts, “Where are you going?!” 

Tired with their behaviour, I yelled back, “He just said it’s on autopilot!” 

Lance furrows his eyebrows, “She says there’s an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we’re supposed to stop it.” 

“What did it say, exactly?!” Pidge asks, loosening her grip on Lance’s chair. 

“Well,” Lance starts, “it’s not like she’s saying words, more like feeding ideas into my brain. Kind of.” 

“Is it like images?” I question and Lance just shrugs. Maybe it’s to do with the bond between lion and paladin. Since Lance just found Blue, it might be just sending thoughts, not words or images. I add that to my notes in my head to ask Coran when we arrive there. 

Hunk scratches his head, “Well, if this thing is the weapon they’re coming for, why don’t we just, like- I don’t know, give it to them? Maybe they’ll leave us alone. Sorry, Lion, nothing personal.” 

“You don’t understand,” Shiro conceded, “These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There’s no bargaining with them. They won’t stop until everything is dead.” 

Everyone stares at Hunk who shrinks down and mumbles, “... Oh. Never mind then.” 

“It’s alright Hunk,” I say, rubbing his back, “Not your fault you didn’t know. I was thinking the same thing.” 

I wasn’t. I was yelling with all my might inside my head how we couldn’t give Blue up but Hunk didn’t need to know that. He didn’t know how much Blue was important in the future. Only I did. All Hunk needed was a friend so I became that, not that I wasn’t his friend before because I was. Hunk, Lance and I were the original group before Pidge came. 

[_You are not from here, are you?_] Blue tells me in my head and I tense up, What do you mean? Blue sighs and I stifle a laugh. A robotic lion sighing at me? [_You are from the future, are you not?_] I freeze, _How did you know?_ Blue chuckles and I feel myself blush, [_I can see all. You have met Slav, yes? I am like him but less crazy. I can see the future, other timelines. You are not supposed to be here. You have messed the future up for-._] 

I wince but before I can reply, I watch as the Blue Lion leaves the Earth’s atmosphere and as a warship from the Galra appears. We all gasp, _oh no, oh no, oh no_, and Hunk shouts, “Uh… Holy crow! Is that really an alien ship?!” 

Shiro gulps, “They found me… “ 

The Galra ship begins to shoot at them rapidly and Pidge tightens her grip on the chair and I yell, “We’ve got to get it out of here!” 

Lance grips the controls, “Hang on!” 

He dodges the onslaught of the open fire from the ship, “Ah! All right! Ok, I think I know what to do!” 

“You think?!” I say in horror, my confidence in Lance’s flying drops a peg. 

He scoffs, “Well, I just started flying this thing a minute ago so I think I’m doing pretty well so far.” 

“Be careful, man,” Pidge forewarns, “This isn’t a simulator!” 

Lance smirks, “Well, that’s good. I always wreck the simulator.” 

I hear Keith go “Oh god,” and then Lance fires a cannon in the Blue Lion’s mouth to blast the length of the warship, Let’s try _this._” He says and Blue’s claws tear into the ship’s side, destroying it and anyone inside. 

“Nice job, Lance!” Shiro congratulates, patting him on the shoulder as I give him a side hug from where I am sitting. 

Lance takes a deep breath in and stares at the last of the ships, “Ok, I think it’s time to get these guys away from our planet.” 

Unexpectedly, the largest ship pursues the Blue Lion, the rest shortly behind. Lance adds more speed to the lion as he launched through space, passing planets. Hunk yells, “Oh, no!” panicking as Pidge adds, “They’re gaining on us!” 

I peer to the side and catch a glimpse of the ships. None of them were shooting at us or getting ready to. My forehead creases in confusion and worry, “It’s weird. They’re not trying to shoot us. Th-They’re just chasing.” “That’s good,” Lance says, “Isn’t it? I mean now we won’t get hurt.” 

“Ok, seriously,” Hunk proclaims, “now we think having aliens follow us is good? I am not on board with this new direction, guys.” 

Keith looks outside at the planets, “Where are we?” 

Shiro answers, “Edge of the Solar system.” 

“There’s Kerberos,” I announced, pointing out the moon. 

Pidge gasps, “It takes _months_ for our ships to get out this far. We got out here in five seconds.” 

Blue, who I hadn’t heard for a while, enters my head, [_We will continue our conversation when we get home. You have much to explain, paladin._] Home? Where- a large portal appears and Blue offers me the word ‘wormhole’. Where are you taking us? Blue purrs but I don’t understand. 

“What is that?!” Hunk exclaims, not excited to see it. 

“Uh, this may seem crazy,” Lance declares, “but I think the Lion wants us to go through there.” 

Pidge tilts her head, curious, “Where does it go?” 

Lance stambers out, “I-I don’t know.” and I can tell Blue has told him the same as me. That wherever that goes, it is home for the lion. 

I turned around to face Shiro, “ Shiro, you’re the senior officer here, and the only adult. What should we do?” 

“Whatever’s happening,” Shiro proclaimed, “the Lion knows more than we do. I say we trust it, but we’re a team now. We should decide together.” 

We all look at each other in silence. The same thought flooding through everyone’s head: _I want to go through it, I want to see what’s there,_ though it’s all for different reasons. Shiro- to stop the Galra, Keith- to find his mother and help Shiro, Pidge- to find their family, Hunk- to discover what they can do and make a new family, Lance- to find out who he is, and me- to reshape the future into something better for everyone. 

“... Alright,” Lance decided, ”Guess we’re all ditching class tomorrow.” 

The Blue Lion enters the wormhole and the wormhole and the lion, with all six passengers, disappearing out of sight before the Galra warship can follow. And then off the team go, to whatever home is for the lion and to whatever awaits them there. I can only hope that everything goes to plan. But even if it doesn’t, there’s nothing I can do. _There’s no turning back now._

**_____________________________________**

**Hurtling headlong over the ocean**  
**Can’t seem to arrest**  
**This perpetual motion**  
**Suddenly flying**  
**More than falling**  
**But no sense of direction**  
**Something pulls me to my calling**  
**Like a spirit to ascension**  


**Mortality**  
**Gone in the blink of a cosmic eye**  


**\- Mortality by Satan**  


**______________________________________**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like that chapter. Woah, I'm updating so fast! I've got a lot of tests coming up and then break for two weeks so I'll try to update then.
> 
> The brackets around the speak is Blue "talking". I've posted the first chapter on wattpad so go check it out. My account is: @TillyJellyfishFox713
> 
> Thanks to everyone reading this! You guys make my life so much better!


	4. the stars are filled with wishes made on long, lonely nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Chapter 3 -
> 
> The Castle of Lions is not what Gabby expected, first, she didn't realise how big it exactly it was and not to mention all the strange alien tech. Second, why was Blue acting so strange? Lance was her paladin, not her.
> 
> And finally, no one ever mentioned, not even her brothre, that they would be travelling to hostile planets, shooting down alien fighter jets, invading a Galra ship, wearing cool armour, and fighting robot aliens all in the same day.
> 
> Gabby is in for one heck of a crazy ride, that's for sure.

****

**_______________________________________________  
** **Imagine if I never told a lie  
** **Imagine if I knew how to always get it right  
** **Imagine if I wasn’t such a coward  
** **And I had the courage hidden somewhere in my heart  
** **To look you in the eye**

****

**If I could go back  
** **Just for a night  
** **I would see the future  
** **And I’d make it alright  
** **Oh darling if life was a movie  
** **I’d hit rewind  
** **Imagine if I knew how to turn back time**

****

**\- Imagine If by gnash  
** **______________________________________________**

There’s a planet right in front of them, and for a second, I think it’s Earth. _Have we done a big loop?_ But the sound the Blue lion sends me is a happy one so I presume this is the lion’s home she was telling me about before. From where we are, the planet is a blue sphere with curvy wisps of white but as the lion flies in closer, green land appears along with oceans and mountains. But even though it looks exactly like Earth, I know it is not our home. 

Groans echo behind me and I look at them to see them all huddled over from the turbulence that the wormhole caused. The only ones unfazed were my brother and I. Perhaps this has to do with the connection my brother and I have with Blue even though my brother has a much stronger one than me or it could be just because we are the only ones with seatbelts on.

_[That is because you are not my paladin, yet]_ Yet? I was so confused, wasn’t Lance her paladin? He was the one flying Blue, not me. None of this made much sense but before I could ask the lion for more information, Hunk grunts behind me and as I spin my head around to look, he vomits all over the floor of Blue. He pauses for a second and says, “So sorry-” before continuing to puke his guts out. I wasn’t surprised by him vomiting but more shocked it took this long.

It seems Pidge had the same thought because they say, “I’m just surprised it took this long.” I nod along with them as I watch the vomit magically vanish from the floor. I didn’t know the lion could do that and I looked around to see if anyone else saw what the lion did but it seems I was the only one for everyone else is more focussed on the outside of the lion than the vomit. I can’t blame them really, space is a beautiful, but lonely, place.

“I don’t recognize any of these constellations,” Shiro speaks up, gazing at the stars, “We must be a long, long way from Earth.”

I frown, looking at the stars myself, “It could be stars we’ve never seen before but that still wouldn’t be anywhere near Earth then.”

He stares at me with an odd look, as if he is trying to understand who I am but Lance says, “The Lion seems to want to go to this planet, I think… I think it’s going home.”

My brother glances at me but I look away, unsure what to do so I watch as Blue blasts off towards the planet that looks like Earth. Once we get closer, I realise there are mountains covering most of the planet and I can spot clear areas as well and I wonder if there are any civilizations on this planet. I’m about to voice out my thoughts when we enter the atmosphere and the four people behind our chairs huddle in closer as the lion shakes from intense turbulence.

Pidge’s face is right next to me, their hands gripping my shoulders tightly. I try to swat them away, saying, “Have any of you ever heard of ‘personal space’?”

Lance nods, agreeing as he pinches his nose, “Hunk, the love of my life, your breath is killing me.”

He moves away, whispering to my brother, “Sorry Lance, I’m just nervous,” and then voices to the rest of the team, “Is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious Wormhole? Why are we listening to a robotic lion anyway?”

“Well,” I say, facing Hunk, “The lion got us away from the Galra.”

“Yeah, this beauty is the best!” Lance adds, chuckling when the lion rumbles at the compliment.

Keith narrows his eyes at Lance, “I don’t know if you noticed, but we’re in an alien warship. And we don’t know if this lion is bad just like the Galra. If they wanted Voltron this badly it can’t be good.”

This makes my brother smirk, “Oh, are you scared?” 

“With you at the helm?” Keith replies, “Terrified.”

My brother goes to say something back and I can tell he is annoyed with the other boy, so I am grateful when Shiro interrupts, “Alright, knock it off! No one’s happy to be in this situation and everyone’s having different opinions, but we’re here now. If we want to get through this, we’ve got to do it together.”

There’s silence throughout the ship until Pidge speaks, “So, what do we do?”

“First, we find out where we’re headed.” Shiro says before turning to my brother, “Got anything Lance?”

He sighs, obviously frustrated, “I don’t know. I’m sorry. The Lion’s not talking to me anymore.”

That makes everyone defleat and confused but I say, “Maybe we should look around the planet? See if there’s anyone settlements. We can sing some songs to pass the time, too ”

Shiro nods, “That sounds like a good idea, Gabby. Does anyone know any good songs”

Lance and I share a look, him with a smug look on his face, “What about Dancing Queen?”

“Really, Lance?” Pidge’s nose scrunches up.

I grin, “It’s the best song!”

Everyone groans except for Keith who asks, “What’s Dancing Queen?”

I gasp, “You don’t know Abba?” 

“They’re an icon!” My brother shouts but Keith still shakes his head, confused. 

“Um, do you know Rihanna or Britney?” I ask, hoping he does.

This just makes him look disgusted, “Those songs suck.”

Lance gasps from his seat and looks ready to have a full on arguement with Keith but I stop both of them, “Ok, Keith you can just listen. Everyone, let’s sing Dancing Queen.” 

It’s quiet again, everyone waiting for someone to start the song so I begin, whispering softly, “Ooh, you can dance. You can jive. Having the time of your life. Ooh, see that girl, watch that scene. Digging the dancing queen.”

I stop there and I’m surprised when Hunk sings the next part, “Friday night and the lights are low. Looking out for a place to go.” 

“Where they place the right music,” I stare at Pidge with wide eyes making her glare at me as she continues singing, “Getting in the swing, you come to look for a king.”

Shiro goes after, “Anybody could be that guy. Night is young and the music’s high. With a bit of rock music, everything is fine. You’re in the mood for a dance.”

“And when you get the chance,” All four of us sing this part together.

There’s a gap before the next line and Pidge asks, “Lance, aren’t you going to sing? You are the one who suggested this.”

I grin, “He’s waiting for the chorus.”

Pidge rolls their eyes but then all five of us, minus Keith, sing in harmony, “You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen. Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah! You can dance, you can jive. Having the time of your life. Ooh, see that girl, watch that scene. Digging the dancing queen.”

I nudge Lance, telling him to go next. He takes a deep breath in and sings in his beautiful voice, “You’re a teaser, you turn ‘em on. Leave ‘em burning and then you’re gone. Looking out for another, anyone will do. You’e in the mood for a dance.”

He looks at me, beaming and we sing together, “And when you get the chance.” 

“Keith, join in!” I yell and he looks reluclant but Shiro whispers something to him and he nods to me. 

So, all six of us in a robotic lion flying through a random planet, singing Dancing Queen, chant out, “You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen. Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah. You can dance, you can jive. Having the time of your life. Ooh, see that girl, watch that scene. Digging the dancing queen. Digging the dancing queen!” 

We all burst into laughter and a few people compliment the others on their singing but then I hear my brother shout, “Oh my god, Castle on the Hill!”

Shiro and Keith yell together, “No, Lance!” which makes me laugh even harder because that means they both know that song and I want to know why.

“But seriously,” My brother says once everyone has calmed down, “there’s a Castle up ahead.”

And that’s when I realised my brother wasn’t talking about the song but at the acutal castle on top of the cliff in front of us. It looks much different to anything I’ve seen on Earth, very futuristic.. The Lion approaches the castle and I wonder if this was the home Blue mentioned when I hear her purr in my mind _[Home, Castle of Lions]_ This is the Castle of Lions, where they stayed for basically the whole time they were in space until it got destroyed somehow. Lance didn’t mention how it did. It is very different from how I imagined it.

The Blue Lion lands in the courtyard and everyone just stares up at it, memorized by the Castle though I’m still stuck on the thought that I’m going to be living in a Castle for the next four years. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was away from my family and friends and was about to be in the middle of a war, I might be thinking this was going to be fun. Lance did say he went on some cool adventures. Perhaps I will too. The Lion almost seems to laugh in my mind and says to me _[Just you wait.]_ Now I don’t know if I should be excited or scared. 

“Wow…” Keith says, his mouth open.

I roll my eyes, “Close your mouth, don’t want to catch flies.”

He glares at me but Shiro puts his hand in between us, his eyes are stone cold and his posture straightens. The seatbelts on me and Lance disappear and we get out of our chairs. Shiro still doesn’t relax and orders, “Keep your guard up.”

“Is something wrong?” Pidge asks, moving closer to Shiro.

“My crew was captured by aliens once,” He turns his head towards them, “I’m not going to let it happen again.”

The team exited the Blue Lion and after, she closed her mouth which was where we came out and stood up, causing me to jump, bumping into Lance behind me. Everyone else stumbles backwards, startled as well. Hunk grabs onto Shiro, panicking.

“Oh no! Oh no! I knew it was going to eat us!” Hunk yells, the lion opening her mouth, “No!”

Instead of gobbling us up, the Blue Lion roars and the doors to the Castle open. Hunk cowers behind Shiro, trembling until the doors finished opening and the Lion sits back down. He laughs nervously, “Oh, the door is open. Guess I was wrong about you.”

Lance grins, “I told you Blue is the best.”

Hunk gives Lance a side hug, squeezing so tight he can’t breath. He finally lets go once everyone begins to enter the Castle. The silence is creepy when I step inside but it puzzles me, shouldn’t the castle be full of noise? Where were all the people and guards? I felt like I was forgetting something from the things Lance had told me about his time in space. Didn’t they meet Princess Allura and Coran and get the Blue Lion on the same day? 

I shook the thought off, it wasn’t time to be revisiting memories. Hunk calls out, “Hellooo?” and his voice echoes throughout the emptiness of the hallways and castle. I feel Lance and Pidge jump next to me, startled from Hunk’s voice. He shrugs as everyone stares at him. 

They walk up some stairs and Pidge gazes at them saying, “I expected these steps to be bigger from the size of the Lion.”

A beam of light appears and I gasp along with the others, taking a step back as the whole area activates, lighting up. A computerized voice speaks out, “Hold for identity scan.”

I frown, “What? Identity-?”

“Why are we here?” Shiro yells, interrupting me, his prosthetic hand glowing purple, “What do you want from us?”

My brother and Pidge scramble away from him, “Whoa!”

The voice doesn’t answer his questions but crystal torches light up a path. “I guess we’re going that way,” Pidge says, everyone following after Shiro as he leads us down the path.

More torches light up as we continue down the path, going deeper inside the castle. I look around us while we walk, Hunk still yelling out, “Hello?... Hellooo?” and his voice echoes, no reply. I wasn’t really expecting one though but I wonder if Hunk was too.

The team arrives at some room with multiple screens at the front and sides and a few windows on the walls. I wonder what purpose this room served, it doesn’t seem familiar to anything on Earth. Perhaps it’s some alien technology which wouldn’t surprise me after the day we’ve had.

“Hello?” Hunk calls out one last time.

Lance looks around the room, “Where are we?”

“It looks like some sort of control room,” Pidge answers, everyone moving around to explore. They peer at one of the consoles and it activates in front of them and two large pods rise from the floor, some kind of person, maybe alien, in each one.

I gasp, leaning in closer to the glass of the girl alien while Lance inspects the other one. “Are those guys… dead?” Hunk asks, backing away to the small group the others have made. Frowning, I say, “These don’t look like humans, Hunk. They have these-'' I gasp again, my eyes widening, recognizing the thing inside. 

The pod opens, the glass disappears and the girl who I immediately know is Allura, instantly wakes up. 

“Father!” She yells before falling out of the pod.

I’m still frozen in shock to worry about Allura hitting the floor but Lance rushes forward and catches her in his arms. I can see a slight blush on his cheeks and I’m nervous he will put on his suave persona and ruin any chances of gaining her respect but he doesn’t do anything. I move forward to help stabilize her as Lance begins a conversation with her.

“Hi…” Lance starts, an awkward tension in the air.

She isn’t interested in introductions and gets straight to the point, “Who are you two? Where am I”

“I’m Lance,” My brother states, “And that’s Gabby. You’re in the castle right now, well you’re in my arms technically but-”

“Your… ears.” Allura interrupts his rambling, staring right at his ears.

Lance raises an eyebrow, “...Yeah?”

“They’re hideous,” Allura says, her forehead creasing, “What’s wrong with them?”

And this when things get worse. Lance, offended, gasps and takes a step back, still holding onto Allura partly, “Nothing’s wrong with them! They heard exactly what you said about them! What about your ears, hmmm? All pointy and elf-like.”

Then things take an unexpected turn and I can see why Lance never told me about this part because she grabs him by his ‘hideous’ ears and bends him back on his knees, putting him in a restraining hold. Allura is not playing games and that’s why Lance’s way of relaxing her didn’t work because that’s how he works, plays games and cracks jokes, starts arguments just so there is no tension or awkwardness. 

“Who are you?” Allura repeats, “Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my Castle?”

Lance is still surprised but even from all the wrestling and practice with our siblings and all the training with our tio and at the Garrison, he is still in reply and he hesitates to answer so I blurt out, “We came here with the Blue Lion, she brought us here! That’s all we know!”

It wasn’t the exact truth because we know about the Galra and partially about Voltron and I know much more but only vaguely but being truthful with Allura right now wouldn’t help the situation much. 

This doesn’t seem to calm down Allura at all because she replies with more questions, “How do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to its Paladin? What are you all doing here? Unless… How long has it been?”

“How long since what?” I ask, her questions confusing me. Was she talking about the old Blue Paladin? 

She stares at me with wide eyes and loosens her grip on Lance long enough for him to get away from her. Shiro says, “I’m sorry but we don’t know what you’re talking about. Can you tell us who you are and where we are? Maybe we can help then.”

Allura stands up straighter and introduces herself, “I am Princess Allura of Plant Altea. Right now, I’ve got to find out where we are and how long we’ve been asleep. I’ll deal with you six later.

The Princess moves over to one of the panels that Pidge had been looking at before and places her hand on a keypad, allowing her access to it and a screen appears. I hear Pidge say, “Okay so _that’s_ how it works.”

After pressing a few buttons, the second pod opens and reveals the strange man that I remembered seeing in my time. The way he was with Lance as if he was his son which comforted me that my brother wasn’t alone but also annoyed me because was he soon going to replace all of us? I had seen the way he was with Pidge as basically a sister. I felt bad when I thought of the way I acted seeing them together when I know that he can have other friends too in his life. It was just especially hard after the war and the four and half years we were separated.

The man has orange hair and an orange mustache and pointy ears just like Allura. I remember his name was Coran and it rings a bell, the story Lance had told me about getting blown up by a bomb and saving Coran. He gasps at the sight of me and my brother and I’m thinking he is about to make a comment about our ears like Allura did but he yells, “E-Enemy combatants!”

He lunges towards Lance, probably thinking to take him down first and then me, but my brother has quick reflexes and side-steps him, causing Coran to lose his balance.

“Quiznak!” Coran swears and the name is familiar, a word Lance told me that was the same as another curse word but he always used it incorrectly, “You’re lucky I have a case of the old ‘Sleep Chamber Knees’. Otherwise, I’d grab your head like this, wrap you up like so and- one, two, three-”

Coran imitates some fighting moves with large hand movements that make me have to stand back. They are very exaggerated and possibly unrealistic for the man to do but he snaps his fingers and says, “-Sleepy time!”

I have to cover up my laughter because this is one of the funniest things I’ve seen and so I’m not surprised when my brother steps up to challenge Coran, smirking. “Well, before you did that, I’d- Hoo! Ha! Hiyah!”

This time I do laugh when Lance imitates some karate moves that he must know from all the those action movies we watched but also from the multiple karate parties we both went to. Luis even trained us beforehand so we could be two of the best there. We weren’t but it was still fun.

“-Like that.” He finishes, standing proud of himself, grinning at me. We were probably thinking of the same memory. 

The man raises his eyebrow, not seeming impressed with Lance’s ‘amazing’ karate moves, “Oh, really?! Well how could you do that when I’ve already done this to you?!”

Coran bends down and pretends to strike an imaginary person that is supposed to be Lance repeatedly, “Ha, ha, ha, ha-ey!”

“Man, these guys are good…” Hunk says and I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or not, “But, I hate to tell you guys but Gabby could beat both of you with those awesome dance skills of her’s.”

I’m shocked at his compliment but I grin as I see Coran actually acknowledge my presence for the first time along with the others while my brother stumbles around his words, “What- but- Hunk! I did dance classes too! And I took archery lessons!”

Keith looks over to them for the first time, busy either watching Allura try and figure something out on her console or looking around the room, “You took-?”

“It can’t be…” Allura whispers, her voice cutting off Keith’s question. 

I notice Coran changes from his quirky, fun self to serious and mature and makes his way to Allura, asking, “What is it?”

“We’ve been asleep for 10,000 years!” Her voice cracking at the end. I then remember everything else about Allura that Lance has told me when I asked about his girlfriend.

It was the last battle and the Castle was under attack by Zarkon’s fleet and he wanted Voltron for himself. Allura’s father sent the lions away to different planets, which is how the Blue Lion got to Earth, and placed his daughter and Coran into the sleeping chambers and put them to sleep. Her father died in the hands of Zarkon and he is still the current ruler of the Galra.

She pauses before she explains to Coran and to herself, “Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed. Coran, Father is gone. Our entire civilization…”

“Zarkon!” Allura suddenly becomes angry, the sad, little princess gone and is replaced with an enraged survivor of her last kind.

This rings a bell in my head of course but I observe how Shiro asks, “Zarkon…?”, but more to himself, as if trying to recall if the Zarkon he knows is the same as the one Allura knows.

“He was the King of the Galra,” Allura explains, “A vile creature and enemy to all free people.”

“I remember now…” Shiro says, “I was his prisoner.”

Everyone glances up at him, Keith, Hunk and Pidge of looks of horror on their face but Keith has more sympathy than the others. Lance and I are more sad at the fact then horrified. We share a look as Allura excalims, “Zarkon is still alive? Impossible!” 

“I can’t explain it, but it’s true. He’s searching for some sort of super weapon called Voltron.”

She glares, not at Shiro but as if Zarkon was right in front of her, “He’s searching for it because he knows that Voltron is the only thing that can defeat him, and that’s _exactly_ why we must find it before he does.”

After assuring Allura once again that they were on the same side of the war, the team introduced themselves to the two aliens in the room. I had forgotten for a second that no one in the room knew the newcomers and vise versa for Allura and Coran. It was odd, realising all those fully made bonds I had seen when they came to Earth did not exist and were going to be made right in front of my eyes. 

Lance nudges me and I noticed that I’ve zoned out and I’m the last one to go so I place a smile on my face and say, “I’m Gabby, Lance’s twin sister.” 

Allura glances between the two of us, probably trying to see the similarities between my brother and I but also trying to see if I’m just as much a goofball like my brother pretends he is. He most likely introduced himself with a joke and his signature smirk. Lance was a goofball in real life but if people stopped for a second and got to know him, he actually acts like that to break tension in the air and cheer people up. It’s a method I use as well but with being clumsy on purpose like how Lance acts dumb on purpose. I prefer my way better than his since it doesn’t lower my self-esteem as much as his does, but as long as he knows I’m there for him, it’s fine.

I must have been distracted with my own thoughts because when I look up, Allura is standing next to the console still but with a plate of green slime floating next to her. She is staring distastefully at it before she returns to fiddling with the screen in front of her. 

“Princess, you have to eat something,” Coran sighs, frustrated, “It’s been 10,000 years!”

“I’m not hungry,” She mutters back, too focussed on the fact that their whole species has been killed and that the person who killed them all is still alive. 

There’s a stiffness in the air and so Lance steps up, takes one for the team which includes me and him, “Man, you’ve been asleep for 10,000 years? That's like one thousand plus ten.”

The dumbness emiting from my brother eases the tension and normally it’s just his dumb comment and everyone else rolling their eyes but Keith replies, obviously not used to the usual thing that Lance does, “That’s _times_ ten.”

I can tell it hits a nerve in my brother, knowing someone actually believes he could make that mistake, that he could be that dumb. I would have just ignored Keith, but classic Lance has to have the last word so he sneers, “Whatever, _dropout_.” 

It doesn’t get any more serious than that because Hunk interrupts the verbal fight, rambling, “I’m starving- is anyone else, starving?- because I haven’t eaten since breakfast. Is there a kitchen in this castle with food or the ingredients because I could just whip up a few eggs and some toast and-”

“Yeah, we know you’re hungry but you’ve thrown up, like, five times.” Pidge says, crossing her arms across her chest. 

“Hmm… Good point.” Hunk agrees but reaches over for the plate of green slime and begins to eat it so I know it’s edible but from the face he makes, I can tell it doesn’t taste good. He must be hungry though, because he continues to eat although he’s disgusted.

“I can’t believe your civilization created such advanced technology 10,000 years ago. It must have been an incredible place.” Shiro says, awe in his voice as he tries to shift the conversation to a better topic. 

“Yes, it was,” Coran answers and I almost think we found a safe topic but he keeps talking, “...but now it is gone and we’re the last Alteans alive.”

This makes Allura fall into Coran’s arms with silent sobs as the older man comforts her but I hear a tiny squeak coming from the sleeping pod that Allura came out of. At first I think I’m imagining it but the Princess gasps in delight and surprise, and darts over to it. Inside there are four mice and I stumble back only to see upon closer inspection that they are not normal mice. There is a pink one, a blue one, a green one and a yellow one. They must be some kind of Altean mice. 

She smiles at them, picking them up in her hand, “Looks like we’re not the last after all.”

The moment is ruined when an alarm goes off in the Castle, a red light blaring along with a siren. On the screen, a warship appears that looks like the one that was chasing us before when we were flying in the Blue Lion so it must be Galra. I sighed internally, do the paladins never get any breaks because all of us literally just got here and I’m not really surprised by aliens since this is all old but to the others, this is new. I suddenly regretted joining this. 

_[Too late paladin, too late]_

Blue’s voice shocks me that I barely hear Coran’s gasp followed by, “A Galra battleship has set its tracker to us!”

I am about to ask Blue why she hasn’t been speaking to me during this whole time but her presence fades from my head and I’m left with her words echoing in my head, _too late._ My only hope for answers was that Blue remembered the talk she wanted to have with me later. 

“How did they find us?! They have not been able to find us in ten thousand years but now?!” Allura yells and her words puzzle me, did the Galran have a tracker on the lions? And if they did, how? I didn’t realise how advanced the Galra were now. I mean, sure, in the future they were but I guessed they evolved over the four years Voltron reappeared. How advanced were other civilizations then?

My brother, being a pure heart, notices the tension so he says, “I’m not sure how they found us, but I bet it’s Keith’s fault.”

The stress melts away but Lance seems to have found competition because Keith spins his head towards Lance and spits out, “Say whatever you’ve got to say to make yourself feel better.... After getting us stuck on the other side of a wormhole!”

Lance was obviously not expecting a comeback, instead a bunch of eyes rolling like Pidge and Hunk did, so he is unprepared. He can’t let Keith have the last word so he leans forward and says the first thing that comes to mind, “I’ll stick YOU in a WORMHOLE!”

And I mentally facepalm because that can have double meanings, if you know what I mean. Keith doesn’t seem to notice because he leans forward, their heads barely touching as they both scowl at the other, looking ready to escalate the argument. Luckily Shiro steps in being the dad he is and separates them.

“Stow it, cadets! This is no time to place blame but instead it’s time to work as a team,” Shiro shouts in a commanding voice that startles me but he ends the discussion and turns to Coran, asking, “How long before the Galra arrive here?”

“At their speed?” Coran pauses for a second, mumbling some words, “Oh well, uh carry the two…,” before answering his question, “I’d say an estimate of a couple of days.”

This satisfies Allura, clapping her hands together, “Good. Let them come! By the time they get here we will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy Zarkon’s empire for good!”

Her little speech seems to bring the mood up a bit until Hunk lets out a burp, ruining the moment, “Sorry! Food goo.”

“Princess,” Shiro steps forward, “there are five of these Lions. How are we going to find the rest?”

Everyone moves to a different room where a large Crystal hangs in the middle and Allura stands underneath it. I identify this room as the Bridge that Lance had mentioned a few times, the room where everyone got together to discuss missions. There was a large window on the front which seemed to be dimed down because I could not see out of it. 

“King Alfor connected the Lions to Allura’s life force. She is the only one who can find where the Lions’ are. The only key to their locations.” Coran states which does not seem frightening one bit. 

The Princess activates a computer in front of her and suddenly a huge map spreads around them showing the entire universe. The team let out a few gasps and exclamations and I’m distracted by all the galaxies and stars out there until I notice a few coordinates, five to be exact. There are five lions too but before I can say my theory, Pidge speaks.

“These are…” They stop right in front of the map, staring right at the coordinates on the Castle of Lions so I finish their sentence for them.

“...Coordinates.” Pidge glances over to me, surprised someone else saw it as well, along with some others and I’ve never felt more invisible. Did they just remember I was here? Perhaps I should speak up more.

Pidge continues her trail of thought, “The Black Lion looks like it’s in the same location as the Blue Lion.”

I frown, “Does that mean the Black Lion is in the castle?”

Coran beams and praises us, “Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cages!”

I’m sure it was meant as a compliment but it seems as if he was dumbing us down, causing me to pout more. Allura nods at our statements, “Very observant. You are both correct. The Black Lion is here in the castle.” 

“To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon’s hands,” Coran explains, seeing our confused looks, “King Alfor locked the Lion in it’s hanger in the castle. It can only be freed if the other four Lions are present.”

Allura elaperates more when she sees we still don’t quite understand, which is understandable since this is the first time they’ve heard about this. I was flabbergasted when Lance told me as well. I couldn’t believe it, to be honest, that my brother had ran away for four years to fight purple furry aliens. That was until they invaded Earth.

“As you have found,” She gazes over to my brother, “the Lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond between the pilot and Lion that cannot be forced. The Quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in their Lion. Together, the two form something that is greater than science can explain.”

The Princess brings up the five Lions and sends the Black Lion hologram to Shiro, the Lion landing in front of his face.

“The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times, someone whose teammates will follow without any questions or hesitation. That is why, Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion.” Allura says.

I feel bad for Shiro, he just escaped from the Galra and now he has to sign up to fight in a war. Allura and Coran don’t even ask if they will do it or not. We are only children. But I get no time to protest because she moves the Green Lion’s hologram to Pidge.

“The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion.”

Pidge, who is younger than all of us, has to fight in a war. I would gladly take their place but I am the opposite of everything they are. Allura moves on to Lance, who’s Lion is already with him.

“The Blue Lion-”

She doesn’t get to explain because Lance interrupts with his signature smirk, “Wait, hold up, let me guess: Takes the most handsome slash best pilot of bunch?”

Allura is not impressed and looks rather annoyed so I butt in, “Lance if that’s the case then I should be piloting the Blue Lion, but I’m not, so why don’t you let Princess Allura explain, hmm?”

He’s not happy with my motherly tone but the Princess seems grateful, “Thank you Gabby. As I was saying, the Blue Lion has a welcoming and caring personality and is the most friendliest and accepting out of the five lions. So they need a pilot of deep emotion and confidence but with a good heart. The Blue Lion has already chosen you, Lance, as their pilot.”

I can see Lance brighten up at that, since the definition seems to be exactly like Lance. He is probably the most caring in our family and I know that even though he just met these people, he would trade his life for theirs in a heartbeat. It’s nice but scary sometimes though.

“The Yellow Lion is caring and kind,” Allura sends the hologram of the Yellow Lion towards Hunk, “It’s pilot is the one who puts the needs of others above their own. Their heart must be mighty and pure. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together.”

Hunk does not seem as excited about his role, pouting a little bit Allura moves on to Keith. The Red Lion hologram drifts over to him as he crosses his arms, waiting for the Princess to explain his part in all this.

“The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It’s faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone. Keith, you will fly the Red Lion.”

My brother looks over to him, pointing, “What? This guy?”

_Who else?_ And that’s when I realised that he was probably expecting me to pilot a lion but I already knew I wouldn’t, the Lions wouldn’t suddenly change because I was here. Lance’s comment must hit a nerve because Keith glares at him, my brother glaring back. I roll my eyes, will those two ever stop?

“Unfortunately,” Allura says, bringing my attention back to her, “I cannot locate the Red Lion’s coordinates yet. It seems to be in an unregistered place but the castle’s technology is 10,000 years old. It might need some work.”

Coran pats her shoulder comfortably, “Don't worry, we’ll find it soon. They don’t call me ‘The Coranic’ for nothing!” That doesn’t get a reaction out of anyone so Coran continues, “It’s because it sounds like ‘mechanic.’ So… Coranic, mechanic, you know. It’s not- It doesn’t sound exactly like it. It’s similar.”

The hologram Lions roar at the right time so Coran does not have to suffer anymore in his own embarrassment, and the five charge together, forming Voltron. It’s so quick that I blink a few times, wondering how they are supposed to do that.

“Once all the Lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe.” Allura says, causing mixed reactions.

“Awesome!” Lance and Hunk cheer, high fiving each other while the other three don’t look so comfortable being in this powerful alien warship fighting an alien war. 

But then Lance glances at me with a large smile on his face which disappears when he sees me. He raises his hand then, not breaking eye contact with me and I brace for the awkwardness that follows when he asks the question I know he will ask. “What about Gabby? There’s only five lions.”

I inwardly groan but there’s a slight shift in the mood as everyone tries to think of an answer. Coran then lights up and exclaims, “Well, you can help me around the castle! There is plenty of work to do and I have always wanted to teach someone how to work the castle! Allura never seemed to get it…”

It wasn’t what I was expecting but it’s better than nothing so I smile at him and everyone visibly relaxes. Hunk then asks a question or more like multiple questions, “Wait. Okay, we’re going to be in there and flying robotic Lions. Got that part, easy. But how do Lions turn into legs? Also, is this going to be a long trip because I have to pee. Do you people pee?”

No one gets to answer his questions because Shiro cuts in before Hunk can ask any more questions, “You know we don’t have much time. Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion. Lance, you take Hunk and get the yellow one. Keith, you stay here with Gabby. If you locate the Red Lion, go get it.

Allura smiles to herself at how Shiro is already taking charge, “In the meantime, I’ll get this castle’s defenses ready. They’ll be sorely needed.”

Coran nods, “I’ll get a pod ready and load in the coordinates so that you can reach the Green Lion.”

The two teams get ready to leave to their vehicles but I shout out, “Wait Shiro!” He turns around so I say, “Can I go with Lance and Hunk? I am not really needed here anyway.”

He glances between me, Lance and Hunk, and Coran and Allura who all seem fine with me going so he sighs and I grin, joining Lance and Hunk. Lance whoops, looping his arm through mine. The three of us go out the front to where the Blue Lion is and get in, the seat already there for me. I feel bad for Hunk that he has to stand but I sit in it, buckling up along with Lance. I see through the window Shiro and Pidge in a flight pod. I hear Coran’s voice echo in the com systems in the Lion.

“We can only keep the wormholes to the other Lions open for two of your Earth hours, if my calculations are correct, so you’ll have to be quick about your work. The good news is that according to my readings, both planets are relatively peaceful and if there are any civilizations on them, they are not hostile. So, if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives. Enjoy the trip!” Coran says and ends the com.

I share a look with Lance as I hear Pidge say, “Wait-” before I speak up, “Wait! What?” and then Lance shouts, “No! Ok-!”

Hunk breathes in and out, “I did not receive the memo on this.”

The Blue Lion flies off to the planet the Yellow Lion is supposvily at. Hunk and Lance chatter about how similar Alteans are to humans and what they can do that we can’t and vise versa. I’m not as attentive to their conversation and instead trying to remember what Lance told me about Pidge and Shiro collecting the Green Lion. I knew he said they had a good time, something about a weird sloth like creature rowing them in a boat to where the Lion was and then Pidge in the end got the Green Lion. 

I guess I would have to ask them when they returned. 

I then tried to recall what Lance said about his journey. Coran did say this planet was peaceful but I remember Lance saying how the Galra had inhabited the planet which did not sound good. Something about Hunk saving his life too. If that was true, then something bad defiently must happen. I was not looking forward to that.

We reach the planet soon and I see it up ahead, along with a bunch of Galra ships. My brother frowns, “What, are those Galra ships?” 

Hunk and him dismiss it and I don’t say anything, not wanting to expose myself too much. That might have been a mistake because once we go through the atmosphere, a bunch of Galra fighter jets come after us. 

“Go, go, go!” I yell at my brother as he pushes the controllers forward, blasting the Blue Lion away from the jets.

Sadly, that does not work and the jets begin to chase them and Blue is getting hit a lot. The ship begins to spin around in circles and we all scream for our lives, all of us trying to grip something among the blaring alarms. 

All three of us yell, “Oh no! No, no, no! Oh! Oh, no!”

Then the Galra fighter jets hit the Blue Lion with missiles and it immediately went down, knocked out of the sky. 

“Didn’t Coran say these planets were peaceful?” I say, holding onto my chair with a deadly grip.

“Maybe ‘peaceful’ means something else in Altean!” Lance responds, trying to stop the Lion from falling.

Luckily, Lance prevents the Blue Lion from crashing and flies down to a Galra mine so the Galra cannot get to them so easily. I see Hunk pull up an Altean compass and calculate some things.

He says, “According to the coordinates, we’re right on top of the Yellow Lion. It’s below that area, where they’re mining for the ore. They don’t even know the Lion is there. Or maybe they just got here and they’re digging for the Lion?” Hunk ponders for a few seconds before asking us, “What do you think guys?”

“Maybe they think it’s here but don’t know where or-'' I am interrupted by Lance who I can see is stressed out by the current situation of getting chased by Galra.

“Who cares? Just go get it! I’m dropping you down there.” Lance says, pressing a few buttons.

“Me? Down there? No. No, no, no. What about Gabby? She can go!” Hunk exclaims, pointing to me while I narrow my eyes at him. I am not going down there. 

“Gabby’s not the pilot for the Yellow Lion, you are! So you go down and go get your Lion! I’ll cover you.” Lance’s speech does little to Hunk but he appreciates it.

Lance dives the Lion to the surface and flies it toward the mine under laser fire. Hunk begins to panic again, “No, what if the Yellow Lion doesn’t work? Wh-What if I- What if I can’t get in the mine? What if I start crying? It’s too late! I’m already crying!”

I can see a few tears roll down his face and I feel sympathy for him so I say, “Hunk, darling, you are the only one who can pilot the Yellow Lion. Just you! Once you are down there, you will know what to do. The Yellow Lion is kind, remember, so they will not let you suffer.”

“Ok…” Hunk nods, wiping tears of his face, “But what if-?”

“Sorry, no time for more questions.” Lance quickly ejects Hunk out of the Lion and I see him roll towards the mine while Lance flies away to get the laser fire away from him. As the Blue Lion flies off, I peer out the window to see Hunk safely make it to the mine.

Letting out a breath of relief, I turn to Lance and ask, “What do we do now?”

He shrugs, “Well, we could just talk, catch with each other…” and then he smirks at me, “...or we eavesdrop on Hunk’s conversation.”

“How do we do that?” I say but then I realise that’s a mistake, since Lance knows I was thinking about doing the second option.

“Blue said she could track all of us so if I just press this button, I could listen to what he says,” And then he pushes the button and static fills the cockpit, making me glare at my brother. What a lame prank this was. 

But then Hunk’s voice comes on and I have to watch as my brother grins, fist bumping the air while I sink back into my seat. I shouldn’t have spoken so soon. Lance shoots at some Galra ships and I listen to Hunk’s talk with himself.

“Oh yeah, sure, just drop me off in an alien planet’s mine that I don’t know how it works. That’s cool, man. It’s only occupied by _mean purple aliens_ that want to_ kill _me and whatever other creature lives in here, but whatever. Just ignore them and go connect with a big, yellow, mechanical cat that I don’t even know where it is. Easy-peasy. Yeah. That all makes a ton of sense to me.” Hunk rambles on, obviously not happy with the situation.

I hear Lance chuckle at some of the stuff he says but I can’t focus on what he says anymore, flinching anytime the Galra gets close. Right now, I was feeling like the most useless person alive. Was it going to be like this all the time? Because this wasn’t the best feeling and I would probably not make it through four years of feeling that 24/7. 

“-Okay, I’m in a giant hole. Now what do I do, Hunk?” 

A hole? Where is Hunk, is he safe? Lance shares a quick look with me but it’s enough seconds for a Galra jet to hit us in the side. We jerk to the side as I hear Hunk thinking, “Hmm? Hmm…” before it shuts off. Blue possibly thought it was distracting us from fighting, which it was. 

Lance yanks the controllers, struggling as he flies the Lion into the sky to draw the attacks. It works for a bit until the Galra seem to realise what we’re doing and begin to fire at the mine entrance. 

“Oh, no!” Lance yells out and I gasp as he pushes Blue towards the mine. We’re too late because a few seconds later, a massive explosion goes off near the mines and I scream, “HUNK!” 

I can’t just not do anything, Lance is busy fighting the fighter jets still and Hunk is currently either under a pile of rubble or trying to find the Yellow Lion. Blue must sense my desperation because she jerks my chair forward. Suddenly, a billion images fill my head but somehow I am able to make sense of it, tapping away on the screen in front of me. Lance stares at me but once he realises I am helping him, he focuses on destroying the jets. 

Blue tells me with a few images that I’m helping reduce stress on some parts of her ship or increasing the laser fire. That satisfies me until Lance shouts, “Hunk, come on! Please, buddy!” and I notice Hunk has not appeared with the Yellow Lion.

My heart drops but then I fall out of my seat, the seatbelt catching me so I don’t touch the ground. I heave myself back up and look out the window in fear as the Galra hit us with a bombardment of laser fire. The Blue Lion keeps spinning, my head getting dizzy and I hear Lance panic from his chair, trying to get control over the Lion again. 

“We’re going down!” Lance yells as I chant over and over, “Oh, no, oh, no, no, no, no!” 

The Blue Lion crashes into the ground, dust and dirt flying up. Lance tries to bring the Lion to a stand but I can tell Blue is struggling. And for the first time since this whole experience, I hear Blue whisper in my ear. 

_[Please Gabby, both of you leave now while you can, get out of harm's way] _

_No!_ I tell her through our mental bond, _we are not leaving you._ But I know it is too late anyways to go if we wanted to because the Galra fighter jets lock on to us and they fire their missiles. I see them through the front window and Lance gathers me in his arms, letting go of the controls. The missiles get closer to us. _This was fun while it lasted._

“It’ll be okay, Gabs, we’ll be okay,” When I do not answer, Lance adds, “Lo superaremos, ¿de acuerdo?” 

“Vale,” I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut, ready for the inevitable.

It never comes though and after a few seconds, I crack open one eye and my brother and I gasp at the sight. The Yellow Lion is there, blocking the incoming missiles and flattening the fighter jets as well with the Lion’s body. 

Hunk’s face appears on the screen in front of us along with his voice through the Lion’s com, “You okay there guys?”

I smile, “Hunk! You’re okay!” 

“I thought you were dead when the explosion happened, buddy! You jumped in front of those shots and saved our lives!” Lance praises his best friend, putting his hands back on Blue’s controls. 

Hunk shrugs, a blush rising on his cheeks, “Well, actually, I was trying to get out of the way but saving you two was definitely in there as well. Thankfully, for what the Lion lacks in speed, it gains in armor. Man, it can take a beating!” 

More Galra fighter jets fly in, shooting the Yellow Lion with more lasers but it provides cover to us. “We’ve got incoming!” Hunk shouts, Lance finally bringing the Blue Lion off the ground. 

Allura appears on the command screen of Blue, sweat on the sides of her face and obvious stress on her, “Paladins, please hurry back! I cannot hold the wormhole much longer and I would very much like for you three not to be stuck there for any longer!” 

“We’re coming back now, Allura,” I say, sending a small smile her way. 

“Let’s get out of here!” Lance yells, the Blue Lion blasting through the air and to the wormhole, the Yellow Lion following behind.

My forehead creases in confusion though as I see one of the Galra fighter jets hit Hunk’s Lion, causing it to twirl around. Hunk exclaims, “Ah-! Not this again…! Oh, no, I think I might...”

“Hunk, just get through the wormhole and you can puke on the other side, okay?” I say, trying to reassure Hunk. 

The Yellow Lion inches towards us but Lance can see it is closing, “Hunk, we need to go! The wormhole is closing!”

Eventually, Hunk made his way to where the Blue Lion and the two lions safely reached the wormhole, entering it just as it closed behind them. I let out a breath of relief when I saw the castle up ahead and even though I hadn’t done much, my anxiety had put me on edge the whole day. I really needed a good night's sleep. 

Getting out of the Lion was harder than I thought, my joints ached as I put pressure on them to walk onto the grass outside. Now I just had to make it inside the Castle of Lions. Glancing next to me, I saw Hunk and Lance in the same state, Hunk maybe a bit worse. He suddenly heaved over and vomited, Lance and I wince, looking away until Hunk had finished.

“Sorry guys, it’s been a long day.” Hunk apologizes, wiping a bit of puke off his face.

I shrug, rubbing his back and Lance goes on the other side to help Hunk get up the steps to the room where everyone was last. I huff, dragging myself up the final stairs and bracing myself for the long walk. It takes a while, at one point my brother collapses on the floor with a dramatic groan and I have to drag him for a few minutes until I accidentally bump his head on a wall and he gets up. Hunk is no help either and I can tell he is contemplating if he should lay on the ground as well. If he did though, I think I would just leave him there, same with Lance if he decided to fall down again.

The doors automatically open when we reach them and all three of us groan and for dramatics, because I can’t help myself, I flop onto the floor. Lance takes one look at me and doesn’t do anything which makes me scowl at him. I dragged him for minutes and this is how he repays me? Allura smirks as she sees me not get up to give Lance the satisfaction. 

“You made it,” She says as Lance sags into Hunk who doesn’t give any effort to hold him.

I scoff, “Yeah, barely.”

“That was a nightmare,” My brother declares, “I almost _puked _out there. I felt like Hunk!” 

Hunk is outraged at this, “Think how I felt! I am Hunk!” 

“Yeah… We had a tough time, too.” Pidge sniggers, glancing at Shiro with a smile which basically confirms my theory that those two did go on a peaceful ride but I am not sure if the sloth creature was real or if my brain made it up. 

I groan again, sitting up from the floor but not fully getting up just yet, “Tell me we at least found the Red Lion?” 

“I dibs not going to go get it!” Lance calls out, along with Hunk who raises his head, nodding furiously. 

“Allura has located it. And do not fret, we will all be going to get the Red Lion!” Coran cheers but it was not the news I wanted and neither did Lance or Hunk but Coran does not see because he continues, “There’s a bit of good news and bad news. The good news is, the Red Lion is actually very close by! The bad news is, it’s on board the Galra ship that was coming to us that is now orbiting Arus. But wait, good news again. We’re Arus!” 

I frown, muttering, “How is that good news?”

Pidge and Keith must hear because they snort at my comment. Shiro narrows his eyes at us but says, “They’re here already?”

“Yes. it appears my calculations were a bit off. Finger counting- it’s more of an art than a science. Hmm?” Coran says which makes Pidge send a look my way before she gets an confused look on her face as if wondering why she looked at me othe than anyone else. I was puzzled as well since we haven’t really talked much.

Out of the blue, a video transmission shows up on the Castle’s screen and I look up, surprised someone is calling us until I notice it is fuzzy and acting up. And then a big purple alien, a Galarn, appears on the screen. Shiro gasps and I wonder if he recognizes him from his time imprisoned or if seeing a Galarn just shocked him. 

“Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire,” The furry, Sendak, says, “I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to confiscate the Lions. Turn them over to me, or I will destroy your planet.”

The transmission ends after that and Shiro says, “All right, lets not panic.” 

Those are probably the worst words to say because instantly after that, everyone panics. Hunk yells, “_Not_ panic? The scary purple alien thing is driving his battleship toward us and Lance, Gabby and I barely survived against fighter lions and he wants to destroy this planet?! We only have four Lions, may I remind you.”

And I have to say, Hunk has a point but panicking makes all your rational ideas go away. Pidge corrects Hunk, “Technically, we only have three working Lions.”

Hunk turns on her, “That’s right. Thank you, Pidge. _Three_ working Lions against an army that that alien is probably going to send our way. Oh-! And a castle that’s, like, 10,000 years old.”

“A-Actually, it’s 10,600 years old,” Coran interjects, “You see, it was built by my grandfather-”

“Maybe tell the story another time Coran,” I say, giving him a smile.

Hunk nods, “Yeah, thanks, Coran. Thank you for that. See? Now is the perfect time to panic!”

“Wait!” Allura barges in, “This castle has a particle barrier we can activate.”

In unison, both my brother and I say, “Girl, you’ve already activated my par-” 

It doesn’t surprise me that we both said, since we grew up in the same household and I went through multiple checklists of what pick up lines Lance could say and what he couldn’t. Most of them I crossed off. 

“-Lance! Gabby!” Shiro shouts, making me sigh and fall onto my back again. 

Coran shakes his head at Allura’s statement, “The particle barrier won’t hold Sendak’s ion cannon forever. The Galra technology must have advanced since we fought them last.”

“Panic now?” Hunk asks and I can see his anxiety is getting to him, his hands fiddling by his side. 

“Hunk,” I say in a calming voice, “Why don’t you come sit next to me, hmm? Lance too. You can give me a cuddle.” 

That works because Hunk sits down next to me, engulfing me in a hug. My brother sits on the other side so with my weight on one side of Hunk and Lance’s on the other side, we balance Hunk and keep him sitting up. We get a few weird looks from the other paladins but it calms these two down who I knew would just agitate everyone more.

It wasn’t like the others weren’t annoying people too but I couldn’t just invite them for a cuddle session on the floor. I barely even knew them. 

“We have to figure out our plan of action, and figure it out quickly.” Shiro orders, already deep in thought of what that should be. 

Then Lance speaks up, “I say we pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day. 

Hunk nods, “I second that. I mean, we tried to find all the Lions, right? That’s better than nothing. We tried and couldn’t do it. We only have three lions and we can’t form Voltron then. Or, man, I guess we could form a… snake? Or a worm! To go through that hole that Lance was talking about.”

I stare at him, wondering how he came up with that, an image of three lions together to form a wiggling worm makes me laugh in my head. Lance stands up, making me have to adjust where I was lying, and wipes imaginary dust off his jacket, “Then, it’s settled. Allura, you ride with me and Gabby. One of you take the old guy.” 

Coran seethes at that comment which is a low blow from Lance. I agree with Lance and Hunk but I remember Lance telling me they fought the Galra on Arus and then had a party to celebrate. If I side with Hunk and Lance, would that make us leave then? Probably not but I can’t take that chance.

“Hold on, Lance,” I say from my spot on the floor, “First of all, that old guy’s name is Coran. And second, if we leave, who knows what the Galra will do to this planet. We all saw in the Blue Lion here that there are settlements with creatures living here. Though I do think that once we fight the Galra, we should definitely leave this place.” 

My brother sinks back, grumbling while Pidge steps up, “Yeah! We can’t abandon Arus. The Galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them.” 

“Okay. But we don’t know if we run if maybe Sendak will follow us and leave this planet alone, like when we left Earth. We form the snake-worm thingamajig and we- hisss out of here.” Hunk waves his arm around like it’s a snake to add more emphasis. 

“Gabby’s right though,” Keith says, which is a first I’ve heard those words and I can tell Lance is shocked too like I am, “Sendak could destroy the planet easily and then still come after us anyway. Staying is our only option.”

“Here’s an option:” Lance replies and I can already tell this is not going to go well, “_shut your quiznak!_”

“I don’t think you’re using that word correctly,” Keith sneers, and to be honest, I don’t think Lance is using it right either. He did tell me that he used to never use it the correct way. 

My brother is not having it though, “What do you know, _mullet?_”

“We’re staying.” Keith growls.

“Leaving!”

“Staying” Pidge calls out.

“Snake!” Hunk yells, which is a mood because I am honestly going for snake as well. 

“Shut up everyone!” I shout, “This is ridiculous!” 

“Princess Allura,” Shiro says, “these are your Lions. You’ve dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we are up against better than any of us. What do you think is the best course of action?”

Allura was obviously not thinking anyone would ask her because she stuttes out, “I… I-I don’t know.”

“Perhaps your father can help,” Coran says, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

“My father?” Allura asks and I am the same. Didn’t her father die ten thousand years ago? 

I don’t get to question because those two walk away, leaving the six of us in this room together. It’s silence in the room for a while, Lance sitting on the floor again and doing his weird leg exercise he does when he’s bored while the others stand around, until Allura walks in later wearing some sort of space suit and leads us to a different room. 

This looks like the Command Room that Lance described where he got his armour. Is this what’s happening? Allura speaks, hopefully to answer my question, “You five paladins, plus Gabby, were brought here for a reason. The Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you and you alone. We must fight and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe’s only hope. We are the universe’s only hope.”

Shiro stands up straighter, “We’re with you, Princess.”

She then walks over to the armory holding the paladin armour I saw Lance wearing all time ago when he first arrived back on Earth. It looks much better than it did before. Allura smirks, “Your suits of armour.”

Everyone looks excited, Lance exclaiming, “Cool!” 

“Outstanding.” Shiro says, astonished by the suits. 

Keith nods, “Nice.”

Pidge cheers, “Oh, neat!”

“Wow…” I say, my eyes widening.

Hunk, though, begins to compare his size to the size of the suits and I can tell he is doubting he will fit in them. I wonder how he wears it later on then, if they have to adjust the sizing or if there’s something else.

Coran whispers something to Allura and she shakes her head, “No, but they’re all we’ve got.”

I frown, what were they talking about? It was either about us or something to do with the suits. I have no time to think more about it because Shiro says, “Boys, it’s time to suit up!” 

And that’s when I realise there are only five suits of armour and what Coran and Allura were talking about was probably about how there aren’t any more suits. She looks up to me and gestures for me to come into a seperate room off this room and I know what’s coming.

“Gabby, I-” She starts but i cut her off with a loud sigh.

“I know, I know. There aren’t enough suits for me so I’m just going to have to sit on the sidelines-”

“No,” Allura interrupts me, “That was not what I was going to say at all,” This makes me raise an eyebrow, “There are plenty of suits for you in the back that you can try on. I was just conversing with Coran and he was saying how you all are not the best or the brightest the universe has to offer,” I frown at this, “but, that does not mean we can’t make you to be like that.”

“Go on…” I say, confused at what she's impling.

“Well, I know Coran has already said you could work under his wing but to be honest, controlling the castle isn’t the most exciting job. So I would like to offer to train with me, just one on one,” Allura explains, “I do not think you have had much experience with fighting so I could train you so that later on, you could help the paladins with their missions.”

I nod, “That sounds great. Thank you, Allura. But would I still be able to work with Coran too?”

She smiles, “Of course.” 

Then she continues, “Now that is settled, let me show you the other suits of armour we have while the men get changed.”

She leads me to the back, pressing a few buttons to a control panel before the wall slides away to reveal multiple suits with different colours. “We have purple, teal, pink, white and grey suits of armour for you to choose from.”

I step closer, inspecting them before saying, “I like the teal but I know it would be very noticeable. Purple and pink aren’t really my colours and white would get messy very easily. Grey would be the sensible option but it isn't the most appealing.”

I’m afraid I’m being too picky but if I’m going to be wearing this for the next four years, I want it to look nice. Allura does not seem annoyed and says, “That makes sense. We do have a suit of armour that has been modified to change colours due to the environment around them. Most do not use it for the colours can be distracting but there is the default settings where you can change it how you want with a control panel in the arm.

My face brightens, “Can I see that suit?”

Allura grins and presses some more buttons before the wall spins around to show the suit, “Try it on.”

I take it off it’s mantle, slipping the chest plate on first and I notice how it stretched to fit around my body like it was made for me. I slide the leg and arms on before placing the helmet on my head. I find the panel on my right arm that the Princess was talking about and I experiment with the buttons until it switches to the colour I wanted. Allura takes her hands off her eyes and beams when she sees me in the armour, which is currently teal. 

“Let’s go join the others,” Allura says and I see her grab something in a semicircle shape from a shelf, hiding it in front of her body as she walks ahead of me. 

I entered the room to see the other five in their signature armour and Lance seemed to twinkle once he saw me in my suit. He whistled at me and I flustered under all the attention but he soon wrapped me in a hug, twirling me around making me giggle. Hunk lets out a few ooh’s and aah’s at the colour of my suit and I blush at his compliments and even Pidge sends a smile my way. 

Allura coughed which diverted everyone’s attention away from me and to her. She holds up a collection of the semi-circle things I saw her grab in the other room. “The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron. It takes a distinct shape for each paladin.”

She hands the corresponding colour to each paladin, except Shiro, and then holds out the plain white one to me, “These were test bayards that my father rewired later to make them for high ranking soldiers. It will not take a distinct shape like the other paladins but it will choose one that will help you in your situation.”

I watch as Hunk’s bayard turns into a cannon form, Keith’s turning into a sword that I don’t recognize, Pidge’s turning into a small grappling hook with a knife head and Lance’s turning into large blaster or a sniper. I then stare at mine, clenching my hands around it and closing my eyes. Nothing happens for a bit until I feel something happen in my hands and when I open my eyes to see a long staff in my hand. 

“Damn Gabby…” I hear someone whisper as I stare with awe at the staff. I move my hand over it and feel a ridge in the middle so I apply pressure to that part, surprised to see it snap in two to make two staffs. I grin at my weapon.

“Aw, you got a cute little bayard.” My brother teases Pidge to which I roll my eyes.

They smirk and strike Lance in the stomach, electrocuting him and causing him to fall to the ground with a thud. “Yeah,” Pidge says, “It is pretty cute.” It wasn’t really something I should be laughing at but I burst into laughter. He glares at me but feeling bad, I help him up as I hear Allura’s conversation with Shiro about how there is no bayard for him since it was lost or something. 

We all gather back in the Bridge of the castle where we discuss the plan to get the Red Lion from the Galra. Allura is at the front with Coran while the rest of us stand in a semi-circle around her. 

“You’ll need to retrieve the Red Lion from Sendak’s ship,” Allura orders, opening an image of his ship for us to.

“That’s a really big ship,” I say, mentally comparing the size of the Lions to the ship.

Keith frowns, “How are we going to know where the Red Lion is?”

Pidge speaks up, “Oh, it’s not a matter of ‘we’. It’s a matter of ‘you’.”

“Pidge is right,” Hunk says before answering Keith’s question, “Once we get you inside the ship, you’ll be able to feel its presence and track it down.”

Lance nods, “Yeah. You know how you felt that crazy energy while we were in the desert?”

“Yeah.” Keith says, narrowing his eyes at Lance, “You made fun of me for that.”

He grins, “And I’m proud of that, but turns out it’s exactly like that mumbo-jumbo.”

I roll my eyes at my brother as Allura says, “Keith, remember, the Red Lion is _extremely_ temperamental. You’ll have to _earn_ its respect.” 

“Okay,” Shiro says, “Here’s our plan of attack. The Galra Empire knows that we have the Blue Lion and Yellow Lion, but they don’t know we have the Green Lion, too. Hunk, Lance, you’ll act as a decoy by pretending to give yourselves up.”

“What!” Lance protests, raising his hands above his head while I quiet him down.

Shiro continues, “While Sendak is distracted, Keith, Pidge, Gabby and I will sneak onto the ship in the Green Lion. Keith and I will find the Red Lion while Pidge and Gabby guard our exit. Hunk and Lance, find some way to take down that ion cannon.”

Everyone, other than my brother, seems alright with their roles and we prepare for the mission. I find myself walking towards the Blue Lion with Lance until I remember I’m going with the others. I give him a quick hug, “Ten cuidado ahí fuera.” Lance sends me a small smile and I watch as he retreats into his own lion. 

When I board the Green Lion, I notice that it’s smaller than the Blue Lion and that no seat magically forms for me. I guess it was just my weird mind bond with Blue that gave me the chair. Instead, I latch my hands onto Pidge’s seat, not wanting to fall over when they fly off. 

Once we are out of the atmosphere, I observe as Hunk and Lance approach the large ship in their lions. Pidge flies the Green Lion to the underside of the warship where we are undetected. I listen in through the coms in my helmet. 

“Attention, Galra ship. Do not fire. We’re surrendering our Lions,” Lance then ends the transmission, “I hope this works because I’m never going to give up my beauty, isn’t that right.” 

I laugh and say, “Mantenlo en tus pantalones, Lance.”

He splutters, his face going bright red as the rest of the team glance at me, puzzled as to what I said. I shrug at them and soon they forget about it, Pidge docking the Green Lion underneath the Galra ship and then they cut a hole into the hull. We leave the Lion and infiltrate inside. The team carries on communicating through our helmets. 

“Pidge, what’s your ETA?” Lance asks to which Pidge replies with, “We’re in.”

I hear commotion happening on the other side, Hunk says, “What’s that thing?”

“I think that’s our signal to get out of here!” My brother shouts and I hear them fly away along with the familiar sound of fighter jets coming after them. 

“Hunk, you dismantle the ion cannon while I take these jerks for a space ride!” Lance orders, shooting off after the fighter jets and I hope he’s being careful. 

“Ten-four!” Hunk responds and their conversation ends so I focus my attention on the three with me. 

Shiro glances around before stopping right in the middle of the hallway, going rigid and then whispering, “I’ve been here before. After I was taken by the Galra cruiser off Kerberos, they brought us here.”

Pidge instantly brightens up, “So that means your other crew members, they might be here too, being held captive. We’ve got to rescue them.” 

They’re worried about their family and I wonder how hard it must be to not be able to tell people why you are searching for them. Shiro doesn’t understand that, “Pidge, we don’t have time. We have to get the Red Lion and get back to Arus.”

This agitates Pidge, “But we can’t leave prisoners here!”

“Look, no one understands that more than me,” Shiro says, and perhaps he does know what it’s like though I can’t think of any major examples other than being separated from his crew members in the first place, “but, in war, we have to make hard choices. Now, let’s get moving.”

Pidge does not move though, instead they stamp their feet and yell, “No! Commander Holt is my father is my father. He and my brother were the ones on the Kerberos Mission with you.”

“Commander Holt is your father?” Shiro queries, not as shocked as I suspected he would be. 

“Yes.” Pidge explains, “I’ve been searching everywhere for him and my brother. And I’m not going to give up looking when I’m this close. I won’t!”

It’s silent and I wonder what his answer will be when Shiro says, “I’m coming with you.” 

“What?” Keith exclaims, moving from where he was leaning against the wall. I frown as well, was I going to have to guard the exit by myself?

“I remember where the prisoners are held. Keith, you go find the Red Lion.” Shiro commands, upsetting Keith. 

“By myself?” Keith questions, pointing at himself. 

The older man waves in my direction, “Gabby can go with you. Minor change of plans. You’ll be fine, just stick together. And remember, patience yields focus. 

Suddenly, a door opens nearby, cutting off Shiro’s next sentence and all I hear is, “Run!” and I’m sprinting down a corridor. Keith is in front of me, darting down the hall with little effort while I’m behind him, cursing myself for not doing more sports in school. We run for a while before he halts at an intersection corridor.

“Great. Now which way do we go?” Keith mumbles, to me or to himself, I’m not sure. 

I shrug, “Let’s just go this way?” 

He’s not looking at me though but staring straight at some weird symbol on the wall until I hear footsteps echoing through the hallway from large robots that begin to approach. Keith dashes off in the opposite way I told him to go but I reluctantly follow him, huffing as I try to keep up. 

Over the comms I catch some of Lance and Hunk’s conversation, “What the quiznak? Is that a force field or something?” 

Did trying to slam into the ion cannon not work? I want to ask myself but I glance up when I hear Keith yell, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” 

In front of us is the same symbol we saw before meaning we just did I big loop. Keith gets more distressed so I step up, taking a risk and putting a hand on his shoulder, “Hey, Keith. What was it that Shiro said? ‘Patience yields focus’?” 

He flinches at the contact but relaxes, nodding, “Yeah, patience… yields focus…”

Keith finally calms down and closes his eyes, taking deep breaths. I wonder what he’s doing when he spins around and says, “Gotcha!” He runs off in a different direction and I sigh, jogging to catch up to him.

“Wait!” I yell, seeing him slow down enough for me to reach him, “Where are we going?”

“I could feel the Red Lion’s energy, if that makes sense,” Keith says before rushing off again, leaving me behind in the dust. 

As I run after him, I tune into Shiro and Pidge’s conversation. Pidge calls out, “...-I think this might come in handy” 

“Now, I’ll just reset the controls…” There’s a few beats of silence before they say, “and it’s working for us! I’m going to call you ‘Rover’. Follow me!” 

Keith takes an unexpected turn so I almost end up crashing into a wall but I spin just in time, panting as I keep running. I hear Shiro say, “Don’t be afraid. We’re here to help you escape.” I guess they have reached the prisoner cells.

A random voice stutters through the coms and I’m guessing the coms cannot pick it up exactly because all I hear is, “It’s you, the Champion.” before it cuts off. 

“Wh… What did you call me?” Shiro says and I gasp, why was he called the Champion? 

Pidge interrupts, “We don’t have much time.”

Shiro states, “Let’s get to the escape pods. Let’s go. Come on!” 

I switch over to Lance and Hunk’s conversation and I wince when all I hear is laser fire until Lance’s voice comes over the com, “Whoa-ho-ho! Yeah, buddy! This is way more fun without Hunk barfing every second!”

And I do have to agree with my brother but i have no time to add that in because Keith and I approach the hangar where the Red Lion is kept. Keith grins, “Bingo. Let’s get out of here, Gabby. Open up.”

He places his hand on the Lion’s force field and I brace myself for it to disappear but nothing happens. Keith looks back at me and I shrug, so he reverts to talking to Red, “It’s me. Keith. Your buddy.” 

Still nothing so he whines, “It’s me! Keeeeeiiith, your- I. AM. YOUR. PALADIN!” 

There is no reaction and Keith even knocks on the force field which reminds me of when Lance did the same thing to the Blue Lion and I wonder if he was thinking of the same thing. Galra robots, I think they were called sentries, appear and fire laser guns at us. One hits my armour and I hiss, ducking over to where Keith is. He blocked them though with a shield from his armour. I flick my arm like he did and a shield appears as well. 

“I’m bonding with you!” Keith screams at the Red Lion, “Hey! Come on! We’re connected.”

When that still gets nothing from the Red Lion, Keith summons his bayard as the weird sword and begins to fight the sentries. Not wanting to feel useless, I snap out my two staffs and aim them at the sentries stomachs, knocking them over. 

“You are not getting this lion,” Keith yells at them. 

“The Red Lion is not the Galra’s. The Lion deserves to be with the others so you better stay away,” I shout, piercing a sentry in the stomach with the sharp knives at the end of the staff. 

Keith gets knocked back by laser fire and I turn around to where he is, getting distracted and I fall over as well. One goes to hit me in the head but Keith is near the control panel and hits a button, opening the airlock doors which sends the sentries into space. It works efficiently but it also sends him out as well. I stay put, stabbing my staff into the ground but Keith is not as lucky. 

I stare up at the Red Lion and to where my teammate is, flying into space and I pull my bayard out of the ground, shouting, “KEITH!” and blasting off into space myself. 

My plan was to try and reach him and quickly stab my staff back into the ground before I go into space but he is too far away and I am rapidly sucked into space anyway. A loud roar pulls my attention to the Red Lion which comes to our rescue, catching Keith in its mouth, finally accepting him. I am soon eaten by the Lion too and I rush up to the cockpit where Keith has already taken a seat. 

I grab onto his chair but to my surprise, a chair forms for me. This confuses me since I do not have a connection with the Red Lion but the Lion sends me a short replay of the fight and the part where I yelled that the Red Lion was not the Galra’s and deserved to be with the other Lions. I smile and send a ‘your welcome’ for the comment but also a ‘thank you’ for the seat. 

Keith grins, “Good kitty. Let’s roll.”

I listened back into Pidge and Shiro’s conversation, a bunch of zapping and metal going through metal fills my ears until that strange alien voice says, “Thank you, Shiro.”

“Wait! How do you…?” Shiro asks but I assume the escape pod has already left because Pidge speaks up.

“Shiro, that was amazing! Where did you learn to fight with your arm like that?” They say, intrigued.

I guess all the attacking at the start was Shiro fighting but Pidge mentioned his arm and my brain went back to when we entered the Castle of Lions for the first time and his arm glowed purple. I wonder if that had to do with anything now. 

“No idea.” Shiro replies and I can tell that is the end of it so I switch over to Hunk and Lance.

“Come on,” Hunk grunts, “just break, you stupid thing!” 

A loud sound is heard and Hunk cheers, “Score one for Hunk!” He had talked about a force field before around the ion cannon so I ponder if he broke it or if it was something else. 

Another noise is made and it sounds like the time when Hunk slammed the Yellow Lion into the fighter jets back on the other planet so I wonder if he slammed into one of the Galra ships or their ion cannon. I don’t need to ask though because Keith flies us in and I see the Yellow Lion along with the Green and Blue Lion appearing as well.

“You guys made it!” Hunk says, hurrahing. 

Pidge then says, “KItty Rose has left the stage!” 

“Let’s get the heck out of here!” Lance says and I nod, “Yes, I have had enough adventure for one day.”

Hunk bambles on, “I hope I stopped that ion cannon. I spent all that time trying to get the force field to go done and then I could barely make a dent in it!”

We reach the Castle of Lions finally and once Keith lands the Red Lion near the Black Lion’s hanger. Shiro gets out of the Lion and stands next to the hanger. The four claimed Lions activate the door that the Black Lion is behind and it opens, all five Lions roaring to show that Shiro is the new Black Paladin. Coran cheers and Allura looks relieved that we do not have to go looking for a different paladin for the Black Lion.

But then the Castleship’s alarms blare to alert them Sendak’s warship is coming. “Oh, quiznak!” Coran swears as Allura yells through the coms, “Sendak is entering the Arusian atmosphere. We need Voltron now!”

Shiro enters the Black Lion and all the five Lions together launch from the Castleship. It is only then that I remember I am still in the Red Lion with Keith. I swear under my breath and try to reach for my mental bond with Blue. _Blue? If I left the Red Lion, would you be able to get me in time?_

_[Of course, Gabby, I would catch you every time]_

I grin, _Okay. Get ready then Blue._ I turn my attention to Keith, “Keith I want you to eject me.”

He looks at me like I have lost my brain, “What?! We are about to go into battle, you can’t leave now!”

“Just trust me, Keith.” I say though it’s more trust that the Blue Lion will get me before we leave. 

Keith sighs and I get out from the seat, watching as it vanishes and I stand in the middle where I saw Hunk get ejected from last time. He glances at me one more time and I nod and then one second I’m standing on the ground and the next I’m free falling. My feet hit the ground rather quickly and I run over to the Blue Lion, my feet kicking dirt up.

I hear the commotion over the coms, Lance screaming, “GABBY!” while Shiro yells at Keith, asking why he did that. I’m worried for a second that I won’t reach Blue in time. And then I hear a woosh of air in front of me and I open one eye to see the Blue Lion in front of me with her mouth open and I tumble in. 

I make my way up to her cockpit, mentally thanking Blue and I smile when I see my chair already there waiting for me. My brother beams when he sees me before it turns into a pout, “Gabby! I thought we would leave and you wouldn’t be able to help! Why did Keith do that?”

“Actually,” I say, “It was my idea. I had trust in you to get me and I knew that you would not leave me and you didn’t.”

He nods, “Yeah, it almost seemed like Blue moved by herself which is crazy.”

I sit down in my chair, buckling up, “Yeah…”

“Gabby, are you alright?” Shiro voice echoes in my ear and I answer, “Yes, I’m good. Don’t go too hard on Keith, it was my idea.”

He doesn’t answer me, just lets out a groan and a whisper that sounds like, “Not another one.” but then the Galra warship fires its cannon at the Castleship and blasts it. Everyone is shaken from the blast but survives.

“Man,” Hunk says, “those Galra guys repair things fast.”

Coran then speaks, “The barrier gets weaker with every blast. Once that shield goes down, the castle will be defenseless.”

Allura speaks after him, “I can give you cover with the Castle defenses for a while, but you have to form Voltron now or we’ll all be destroyed!”

“Jeez, no pressure…” Hunk mumbles and I giggle.

A second blast from the ion cannon hits the castle and that weakens the barrier.

Shiro talks first, “Listen up, Team Voltron! The only way to succeed is to give it all you’ve got! This looks bad, but we can do this! Are you with me?”

Lance and I nod but I do not know if the others are nodding until Hunk says, “I’m nodding. Is everyone else nodding?”

We all answer, “Yes.”

“Let’s do this!” Shiro cheers and all five Lions run forward, exiting the barrier.

We are immediately under heavy fire from the Galra fighter jets and I groan. I scan the controls for anything that will make us form Voltron but I find nothing. Lance voices his concern, “Uh, how do we do that, exactly?

“Good question.” Shiro replies, “Does anyone have any ideas of how to form Voltron?”

Hunk responds, “I don’t see a ‘Combine into Giant Robot’ button anywhere on my dashboard.” 

The Galra jets continue to bombard us with attacks and Lance swerves the Blue Lion around to avoid it. Pidge groans, “This is insane! Can’t they just cease fire for one minute so we can figure out how to destroy them? Is that too much to ask?”

Pidge quickly loses her temper and attacks the fighter jets, killing two. Keith joins in, firing the Red Lion’s tail cannon at two other jets, destroying them. “We have to do something!” I say through the coms, pressing buttons to help Lance destroy some fighter jets.

“Combine!” Hunk shouts, slamming his lion into the Red Lion, knocking it over. 

“Hey!” Keith yells, standing his lion up.

“Okay,” Hunk says, “that didn’t work.”

Allura appears on screen, “Quickly, paladins! Our energy is getting low!”

Shiro ponders for a second before suggesting, “Maybe if we fly in formation, we’ll just combine. Take off on my cue. One, two, three, Voltron!”

Lance flies off on his command and I beg for something to happen. Keith yells, “Here we go!” 

“Come on, come on!” Lance pleads but Shiro states the obvious, “Nothing’s happening.”

“Hey, wait, wait, wait!” I say, getting excited, “I feel something!”

Hunk agrees, “I do, too. I feel it. It’s like we’re all being pulled in the same direction!”

“Uh, guys,” Shiro says, “I think I know why. Look up.” 

I glance up to see what Shiro means, all five Lions are caught in the Galra warship’s tractor beam. Lance moves his controls around but finds that we are unable to escape. 

“What the heck?” I say in unison with Lance.

Pidge explains, “Sendak’s ship is sucking us in like a black hole!”

And then the worst happens, the warship blasts the Castle of Lions one more time and the particle barrier disappears, destroyed. “Oh, no!” Shiro calls out and I can’t help but feel awful. Allura, Coran and the whole universe put their trust in us and we have just failed them. Maybe we weren’t the right ones. But they made it through this before so they must again! If I haven’t already messed it up.

“I don’t care what you say, Shiro. I’m panicking now!” Hunk cries and then starts screaming. 

“It can’t end here!” Pidge yells while Lance says, “This is it!” 

“It’s been an honor flying with you boys.” Keith calls out and I still find the effort to correct him, “And girl!” 

“Oh no!” Hunk wails and I can’t help but give up.

Until Shiro shouts, “No! We can do this. We have to believe in ourselves. We can’t give up. We are the universe’s only hope. Everyone is relying on us. We can’t fail now! We won’t fail if we work together and we’ll win together!”

“Yeah!” The team yelled, motivated again. 

We are united once more and the Lions somehow break free and form Voltron. It’s so quick I don’t have time to imagine what it was like but suddenly we are saving the Castle of Lions from the destruction by stopping the last blast with a single punch to the cannon. Everyone whoops and hurrays.

“I can’t believe it!” Keith says.

Pidge cheers, “We formed Voltron!”

“I’m a leg!” Hunk cries and I say, “That was amazing!” 

“How are we doing this?” Lance asks but I shrug.

Shiro says, “I don’t know, but let's get that cannon!”

Voltron begins to destroy the warship, shooting laser fire at it and tearing off pieces, but I see a smaller ship leave and I know that probably has Sendak in it and I growl. Once we finish with the ship, we seperate and land back in front of the Castle of Lions. Allura and Coran meet us out there, where we are all exhausted and sweaty.

“Good work, paladins!” Allura congratulates us. 

“Thanks, pretty lady.” Lance says and I can’t help but say as well, “Yeah, thanks pretty lady.” 

“We did it.” Shiro speaks, diverting our attention to him.

Keith nods, “Heck yeah, we did.”

I frown, “How did we do it?”

Hunk shrugs, “I was just, like, screaming the whole time. Maybe that did it.” 

I laugh but I see Pidge off to the side, looking dejected. Shiro places a hand on their shoulder and says something I can’t hear. It does the trick though because Pidge gives him a genuine smile. Lance comes around, blocking them from my view and brings me into a side hug, “You were great out there, Gabs.”

“I barely did anything,” I laugh but he shrugs, “That doesn’t matter. Any action still makes a difference.”

Before I can compliment him on his flying or ask what he means, Allura informs, “We won the battle, but the war has only just begun. Zarkon knows now that we have all the Lions and I’m afraid he will not stop until he gets these Lions.” 

Coran goes on, smiling, “Good thing you Paladins know what you’re doing, because these battles will get more frequent and you’re going to have to form Voltron again and again.”

“Totally- Wait, _what?_” Hunk stammers, staring at the two with shock.

Lance calls out, “We barely survived forming Voltron this one time.” 

And I added, “Some of us don’t even know how to fight.” 

Pidge nods, “Or how this war even started!” 

“That’s why we will be having training sessions from now on! Because you only had to fight one ship today, wait until you have to fight a whole fleet of them! It’s not going to be easy being the Defenders of the Universe.” Coran says, looking at us proudly as if he is imagining how great we will be. 

I for one, am surprised by the title he has given us and it seems so is everyone else and they all turn to gaze at their Lions and I find myself looking at the Blue Lion. She's not my Lion, I whisper to myself, and stare at the floor instead. 

Shiro says, with a grin on his face, “Defenders of the Universe, huh? That’s got a nice ring to it.”

This time I do look up but not to stare at the Lions but to glance around at my new teammates. Shiro, our leader who has a traumatic past but seems to always know what to say. Pidge, our smart genius who is leading a secret identity and is searching for half of their family. Kieth, the loner who is very mysterious and has a lot of walls up. Hunk, our pure mechanic who pukes a lot and is a sweetheart in general. Lance, my brother who pretends to have no talents when he literally is the best ever and is really loud and crazy and dumb but he’s my loud, crazy, dumb brother. 

And then there’s me who is just the add-on, the extra with no talents, not even a Lion to fly and doesn’t seem to contribute much. Voltron made it all the way without me before and nothing bad happened, it was the after effects that changed everything. I have to start at the beginning though to change the ending. 

While I’m busy daydreaming, Allura and Coran had sorted out rooms and I was stuck in one next to Lance at the end. I was fine with that but my whole life I had shared a room with Lance as well or my two younger siblings and Lance. I had never had my own room unless my brother slept over at a friend’s house which wasn’t often. 

I trudge through the Castle of Lions with the others until it’s just me and Lance. I wish him goodnight and he gives me a kiss on my forehead and then the door shuts behind him and it’s just me. I walk into my room, ready to sleep when I remember I was supposed to have a talk with Blue. She would understand if I forgot but I then would never do it so I wait until Lance is in bed and sleeping, which doesn’t take long, until I sneak back out. 

The hallways are deserted as I saunter down them towards where the Blue Lion is kept. A few times I think I hear something and I dash into the shadows for a few seconds until I hear there is no one. It’s a lot of back and forth but I finally reach the hangar. The door instantly opens for me, as if she knew I was coming. I walk in and once I near her, Blue opens her mouth for me, leaning down and I walk in. I reach the cockpit and sit down in Lance’s chair. 

_[Now it is time for our conversation, Gabby]_

“Yep, I’m ready. Ask away,” I reply out loud since I am alone and it is weird to hear my own voice by itself.

_[Start at the beginning of your story]_

“Oh,” I say, “Well, if my time, Voltron consisted of everyone but me and my brother went missing along with the others for four years. He came back different of course and that was fine. We won the war but, um, Allura died to save the universe. That upset Lance since he was dating her. After the war, though, everyone separated, going off in different directions and my brother decided to work on the family farm. That was fine but my brother used to want to explore space and the oceans and the world, not be stuck at the farm. Being by himself took a toll on my brother so I made a wish one day and it seemed Allura’s spirit guided me to this portal and I fell in and she said some words and I was transported back in time to Earth. I then joined the trip and we found you.” 

Blue takes a while to respond. _[Hmmm, that is interesting. I understand your reasons for coming but what do you plan to do now?]_

“The bonds my Voltron formed were strong but there were doubts and self esteem issues definitely on my brother’s side and then they just left each other. I want to make sure no one feels like that and at the end of the war, they recover together or at least stay in touch.” I answer truthfully. 

_[Well I trust you, Gabby, that you know what you’re doing. I believe you are doing the right thing. At the start, I must admit, I was angry because I thought you were doing this for some careless reason but I see I was wrong. But you may be wondering why you can hear me.] _

That makes me nod, “Yes, I am really confused because I was sure that only Lance and Allura piloted you.”

_[Like you, I can see the future too but only of my life so I do not see much after the war. I do know that Allura does not come back because I feel it in my bonds but I do know that Allura was only a temporary. We had a real bond but there was someone else that was supposed to take after Lance that was not her.] _Blue’s response puzzles me, what is she saying? 

I hear her mentally sigh, _[You, Gabby. I was waiting for you but sadly you did not join the team so I picked the only other person who’s quintense matched mine almost as well as yours. That is why you can communicate with me. Allura could too but she could do that will all the Lions, mine was nothing special.]_

“Oh.” But I can not say more because Blue continues, _[The time is not for a while though and my connection to Lance never faltered. I did not want to leave him because I felt like a mother to him but I was babying him too much. He needed to find his purpose and Red could help him there.]_

“I think I understand, thank you Blue.” I grin, rubbing her dashboard, “I have another question though, what did you mean before when you said it was too late for me to leave?”

Blue sighs again, _[Well, we the war has begun and you cannot drop out now. There will be a lot of dangerous missions and you will get hurt, I hope you undestand and that you are ready to sacrifice yourself if needed.]_

I nod, “I undestand, I’m ready.” I let out a yawn, blushing as I try to cover it up so the Blue Lion does not think she is boring me.

_[I have more questions but I know you are tired so go get some sleep. Tomorrow will be tiring for sure. Just remember, I trust you and I am with you for whatever decisions you make.] _Blue comforts me and I smile, grateful. I stand up and leave the Blue Lion, dragging my feet as I feel the exhaustion weigh down on me. 

I don’t bother hiding if I hear something because if someone else was out here, I would probably not even notice them. My door is soon in front of me but the thought of going to sleep by myself troubles me so I instead open my brother’s door. Entering the room, it is dark and my brother has put on some weird alien cream and his headphones. I shake him gently. 

“Leandro,” I whisper, “Leandro, wake up.” 

He turns around, opening an eye, “Hmm? Gabby?”

“I can’t sleep by myself, can I sleep here?” I ask, worried he will send me back.

“Sure, why didn’t you come earlier?” Lance says, moving over so I can fit in and be the little spoon tonight. 

He wraps an arm around me as I answer, “Bathroom.” I hope he doesn’t ask why I was in there so long but he doens’t catch it, just humming in response. He plays with my hair for a few minues but it stops after a while and soon I hear his slight snores. 

Sleep doesn’t come for a bit and I am left to wonder what adventures tomorrow holds. I snuggle in closer to my brother and pull the blanket over my head more and let sleep take me. Dreams flood my mind and my breathing evens out. Four words keep appearing though, the same ones I had heard an hour earlier, in my dreams and everytime it almost shakes me awake. Just four little words.

_I trust you, Gabby._  
**________________________________________________**  
**You feel like life's on your shoulders**  
**And crawling under your skin**  
**Nail-biting thoughts lying bedside**  
**But don't know where to begin**  
**Feeling lesser from pressure**  
**Of waves you can't swim up**  
**You are what you say,**  
**Just know that you're good enough**  
  
**You are right where you should be**  
**You are right here next to me**  
**What do you need when**  
**You have everything?**  
**Cause you are right where you should be**  
  
**\- Right Where You Should Be by Quinn XCII**  
**___________________________________________________**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! First, if you were here when the important a/n was posted as the chapter before this one then that is all old news (so this book is no longer on hold :) If you have never seen that then just ignore that. 
> 
> Sorry this is so long, I hadn't realised how poorly i had divided the pilot episode but that is finally the end of it and the first episode is next (i believe it is Some Assembly Required) It gets really rushed and badly written at the end since I wrote it really late at night while half asleep but I'm too lazy to re edit it so bare with me. 
> 
> Blue was really angry with Gabby in the last chapter but she has realised she is not trying to harm their reality/universe so she is not angry. Also that weird thing that Gabby does before they go into battle where she leaves Red might sound weird because I orginally had Gabby drop down out of Red and Blue caught her but then I read the script and realised they hadn't left the ground yet and were just outside of the castle so I had to re write it. 
> 
> If anyone is wondering why Gabby doens't remember much about the beginning or why she doesn't know Zarkon, etc., it's because she only helped at the last part so she thinks Allura is Lance's gf and she knows about Haggar and Lotor, not about Zarkon or anything about the start.
> 
> The Dancing Queen part is really random, sorry, because orignally in canon that was where Lance farted as a joke but I don't think he would do that with his literal hero in the same space as him so I took it out. Also, Gabby doesn't know it now but her cool suit her to listen in on everyone's conversations without their coms being on so that way you guys can know what part of the episode we are at as well.
> 
> Last thing, there is a bit of spanish in this chapter and there will be more in other chapters. I used this translator website that I use for my spansih class so it should be correct but if it's not, please let me know! :)
> 
> Any other questions, please let me know :) This book is no longer on hold and I will be updating this book along side it's prequel (just check my profile for it bc i forgot the title lol) 
> 
> Leave kudos and bookmarks so you can always be updated!
> 
> Bye!  
Gabby


	5. our souls feel in love but our egos broke us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Chapter 4 -
> 
> Apparently forming Voltron is much harder than it looks and now Gabby and the rest of the paladins are rest doing weird bonding excerises. Who knew that all they needed was to get angry at a princess and start a food fight to finally be able to do it.
> 
> Coran clears a few things up for her but then she realises that the picture Pidge has is of Matt and Katie Holt which is them. Gabby knew this already but she's still surprised.
> 
> How many people knew of this and would this change anything?

**__________________________________________________**  
**Whisper on a scream**  
**Never change a thing**  
**Doesn’t bring you back **  
**It’s like blue on black**  
  
**Blind, oh, but now I see**  
**Truth, lies and in between**  
**Wrong can’t be undone, oh no**  
**Well it slipped from the tip of your tongue**  
  
**\- Blue on Black by Five Finger Death Punch **  
**_________________________________________________**  


An alarm blared through the speakers in the castle. The humans sleeping were woken up in a fright but soon enough they were hurrying to the front bridge. Well, most of them were. Two teenagers, one girl and one boy, were snoozing in their bed. It wasn’t until the boy moved over and stretched, pushing his sister off the bed that she woke up. Before she could yell at her brother, a loud siren with a shouting voice filled her ears. _Oh no._ The alarm was about Zarkon attacking and Allura being dead but it sounded fake. She knew they had overslept, though. 

“Lance, hermano, wake up.” She hushed, standing up and shaking her brother awake. 

He groaned at her, “Ugh, Gabby, cinco minutos más.” 

Gabby yanked her brother’s arm, “No! We have to go, now! Allura and Coran are calling us and we are definitely going to be late.” 

Finally, my brother sits up and instead of putting his paladin armour on, he reaches for a dressing gown and heads for the bathroom. Staring at him with her eyebrows raised, he shrugs, “What? If we’re going to be late, it doesn’t matter how late.” 

She sighs and picks up her own armour that she had shed last night. Putting it on, she noticed how some of her muscles were tense which was probably from how she fell asleep and from the battle yesterday. Gabby had gone to sleep late as well so the only one she had to blame was herself. Lance came out of the bathroom with sparkling skin and holding a moisturizer cream in his hand. Blue lion slippers were on his feet and I wondered where he got them and if they had been here the whole time. Did the last blue paladins wear them too? She didn’t have time to wonder about that, she had a brother to worry about. Throwing his blue armour at him, she took the cup from him and gestured to the bathroom once again. He huffed but obeyed. 

Minutes later, Lance walked out of the bathroom in his blue paladin armour and she grinned until she spotted the slippers still on his feet. This was the best Gabby was going to get. As the two of them ran, Lance jogged, to the bridge. On the way, Gabby reminded Lance that they were in a war now and though she, and everyone else, appreciated his jokes and funniness, there were times when he had to be serious. Lance understood this of course but not everyone knew him as Gabby did. Outside the door, she heard Allura talking or complaining, it was hard to tell which one was which. 

“... And where are Lance and Gabby?” 

“We’re here!” Gabby yelled, panting as Lance came in from behind her. 

He yawned, “Good morning to you too. What’s happening?” 

Allura did not look impressed but at least they were in paladin armour, unlike Keith, Hunk and Pidge. “Coran and I have been up for hours getting Castle back in order. We had to run a test on the alarms so we decided to test you, paladins, as well. Guess which one of them failed.” 

Gabby rolled her eyes but Hunk spoke up, “Hey! You got to sleep for like 10,000 years, man. Monday night, we were on Earth. Now, we’ve flown through space, met aliens and mechanic lion ships, fought some evil alien named Zarkon, eaten goo in some weird space castle. That’s a lot to process in, uh… I don’t know. What day is today?” 

“Wednesday?” Gabby guesses, shrugging. 

“It’s the third quintant of the Spicolian movement. Hump day!” Coran exclaims, “But in your Earth terms, you are correct. Today is... wens-day.” 

Hunk grabs his head, “It’s a lot to process.” 

“You must understand the stakes of our mission. Over the last 10,000 years, the Castle picked up distress beacons from the following locations. So, we have to assume that Zarkon has conquered almost the entire known universe. Earth is here.” Allura points to a small spot on the large map and it makes Gabby realise how tiny and unimportant their lives were. Unless you were a Defender of the Universe, of course. “An attack on your planet is inevitable.” 

“Oh, no.” 

“Exactly,” Allura continues, “Our mission is to free all those planets. Coran and I are getting the Castle ready to leave Arus. During that time, you have to learn to form Voltron, so we can begin fighting Zarkon.” 

Gabby stares at her, “Isn’t that a lot to expect of us in a short amount of time?” 

Shiro threads his fingers through his hair, “Then we better start training. Everyone, get to your lions” 

“Wait.” Pidge says and everyone stops to look at her, “I wanted to talk to the prisoners that we rescued from the Galra ship.” 

“Ah, negative, Number Five!” Coran says, grinning, “I have ranked you all by height, okay? The prisoners need to remain in the cryo-replenishers until tomorrow. That leaves plenty of time to train before then.” 

Allura nods, “That’s right. Now, get to your lions.” 

This appeared to be much more complicated than it sounded. Doors opened, five for each of the paladins except Gabby, and a zip line took them into the pilot seat which slid into the cockpit of their lion. Lance quite enjoyed it but Gabby could see that it was impractical and there must be a different way to get to the lion. Everyone made it to their lion until Hunk got stuck and over the coms, she could hear him struggling. Her brother asked about him but luckily Hunk made it without needing help and voiced the same questions that she had about where the lions were parked in the Castle. 

It was cool to watch the paladins fly in their lions but Gabby couldn’t help but want to be up there in the Blue Lion helping Lance. Soaring through the skies and feeling the connection with the others and forming Voltron. That was only a dream and she knew that though she could help Lance sometimes, he was the rightful Blue Lion paladin and Gabby belonged in the Castle. Even in the Garrison, between her and Lance, her brother was the better flier and she couldn’t compare to him. She preferred learning about the stars rather than flying through them though she had to say, she didn’t mind flying. It had a sense of freedom and joy, the thrill of shooting through the sky. 

Allura leans over to the comms, “Feel the bond with your lions and your fellow pilots until five become one and you form Voltron!” 

The way Allura puts it, it seems easy but Gabby’s seen the transformation up close and it seems way more complicated than that. The five paladins seemed excited at first but as they flew in formation over and over, their excitement decreased when nothing happened. She can’t help but chuckle as they talk about how to form Voltron. Most of them are ridiculous, like a cheerleader pyramid or just slamming their lions into each other. From what Gabby can remember, that wasn’t how Voltron formed. Majority votes for the cheerleader pyramid and Hunk starts telling the team he’s the head though he’s a leg, Lance even provides a direct quote of Hunk during the battle shouting, “I’m a leg!”. They try to form again with Shiro as the head but the lions don’t respond. Eventually, Shiro calls for a break and the paladins all argue but it seems Allura has other ideas. 

“Sorry to interrupt, but I may be able to help. Yesterday, you weren’t able to form Voltron until you were in the heat of battle.” Allura says and Gabby frowns, unsure of what the princess is trying to say. 

Gabby nods anyways, along with the rest of the team. 

“Yeah.” 

“I’m listening.” 

“You’re right.” 

“Yeah, I guess.” 

“Princess Allura, what are you going to do? Is there any way you can help from the Castle?” Gabby asks, leaning away from the comms. She was wondering if there was some sort of button to form Voltron from inside the castle. 

She grins and whispers to Gabby, “Well, I myself may not be able to but I do need to run a diagnostic test on all of the Castle’s defences. This should help!” A button is pressed but it’s not a form Voltron button and instead, lasers are aimed at the lions from the Castle. Screaming fills the comms and Gabby panics. 

“What are you doing?! This could severely hurt them!” But Allura doesn’t listen and all Gabby can do is pout and watch from inside. 

Her brother’s voice echoes in her head, “Okay, whoa, whoa!” 

Keith shouts, “Allura, what are you doing?” The exact same question is in my head but Allura doesn’t seem to be as responsive to me as she is to the team. 

Back on the comms, Allura replies, “Running a diagnostic test on the Castle defences and inspiring you! Gabby agrees this is a good idea as well!” 

“I did not!” Gabby yells over the comms, furious that Allura was making stuff up, “I said this was a bad idea, a very dangerous one!” 

Again, Allura ignores me, “I believe in you Paladins! Let fear be your guide! Form Voltron!” 

“I agree with Gabby, this isn’t going to work. I’m heading back to the Castle!” Lance says before he yells, lasers shooting at him. 

“Please stop! Please! Have mercy on us!” Hunk yells and Gabby tries to catch Allura’s eye but she is staring straight ahead. 

“You think Zarkon is going to have mercy on you? He’s probably on his way right now to destroy us all!” Allura shouts into the comms. 

The computer says, “Auto-lock-on engaged.” 

Gabby’s eyes widen, “Allura stop! This is too much! We aren’t trained for fighting in a war or flying big mechanical lions, we’re just kids...” 

Princess Allura did not appreciate Gabby protesting against her, “We do not have time to start at the beginning. I know what I am doing and _you_ are a guest in _my_ castle. Leave, I have had enough of you yelling at me.” 

There’s nothing she can do except cast one last look at the comms where her brother and the others are still screaming and then to the outside where the lions are running around frantically. She huffs and storms off the bridge and heads for the lounge. It took longer than it was supposed to because Gabby hadn’t realised how big and confusing the castle was. She enters a room and it has tall shelves full of books and devices, holographic maps on the walls and pictures of people that look similar to Allura and Coran. This was their library. Gabby wants to explore it and read everything in here but when she pulls a book off the shelf, the cover is in Altean. Everything here is in Altean. She makes a note in her head to learn Altean and also how to get here though Gabby probably won’t remember in a few days. 

When she finally reaches the lounge, she’s not the only one in there. The Voltron team were sitting on the seats looking exhausted, especially Lance who was lying on his side with one leg up. He looked up when she entered and she smiled gently and plopped down next to him. Gabby looks around at the group, “Is everyone okay?” 

Keith and Pidge stare at her but Hunk groans, “I feel like I’m going to puke.” 

While everyone else scoots away from him, Gabby sits closer and puts her hand on his back, rubbing in circular movements. Hunk gives her a small smile in thanks and she leans her head onto his shoulder. Lance was always Hunk’s best friend but it was hard not to become part of their group when Lance was her twin brother and Hunk was the purest person who had the best hugs and made amazing food. Now they were in space and so far away from home and Gabby knew they wouldn’t be going home for a long time. A long time before the three of them could go back to baking cookies in the Garrison dorm kitchens and sneak out to go to the pizza joint that gave student discounts. 

The doors open and Allura and Coran walk into the room discussing something about the Castle ship but when Allura sees the four of them and Gabby there, she grins. “You did it! You formed Voltron!” 

“No.” Keith responds, “The shooting stopped and the particle barrier shut down, so we just flew in.” 

Allura’s face turns red and her eyes are stormy but she isn’t looking at the team, she’s staring straight at Gabby as if she was the one to blame, “What?” 

Luckily, Coran steps in with a sheepish look on his face, “Oh right. Uh, sorry, Princess. I had to turn off the Castle defences to test the fire suppressors.” 

Before Allura could yell at us more or even berate Coran, Shiro marches into the room and stares at all of us in surprise, “What are you guys doing here? We’re not taking a break.” 

“Shiro’s right.” Allura stated, “You should be training, even you Gabby.” 

‘We’ve been training.” Hunk whined, “When are we going back to Earth? I have to call my mums and dad.” 

“Well, I’m not going back until I find my family.” Pidge quipped. 

“I’m supposed to visit my family this weekend. Can I at least visit my mama to let her know I’m not going to make it?” Gabby adds, knowing it will be useless but perhaps she can change this timeline in ways she didn’t think of before. 

Shiro and the two Alteans expressions do not look promising as Shiro pointed out, “Guys, there won’t be an Earth if we don’t figure out how to fight Zarkon.” 

Gabby frowns along with her brother, their foreheads creasing. She asks, “Do I even need to fight? I don’t have a lion.” 

“The better question is: _how_ are we going to fight? We can’t even figure out how to form Voltron.” Lance exclaimed, raising his hands above his head for dramatics. 

Coran plays with his moustache, “Well, I’m not surprised. You know, the original paladins fought hundreds of battles together, side-by-side. They were like a pack of yalmors linked at the ears.” He glances at me, “They also had others fight with them as well. It wasn’t just the five of them.” 

Lance rolls his eyes, “Wow. Yeah, that’s definitely not us.” 

“I barely even know half the people here.” Gabby informed Coran, “How am I going to be linked at the ears with them if I don’t know who they are?” 

Coran beams and announces, “That is what the next part of your training is to help you with. During the last attack, your survival instincts forced you to work as a team, but that will only get you so far. Just like Gabby said, some of you don’t know each other as well and you’ll have to gain trust with each other and become a real team to have any chance of forming Voltron and beating Zarkon. You should try some exercises out on the training deck.” 

Hunk’s eyebrows raise up, “There’s a training deck?” 

Her brother mentioned the training deck a few times in his stories but none of his descriptions compared to the real thing. It was huge and weapons were hung on the walls and up the top was where Coran and Allura stood behind glass windows. The floor was hard but had a soft feeling, perfect for stretching. Gabby watched as the others explored the area until Coran’s voice boomed throughout the room. 

“Okay, listen up. The paladin code demands you to put your team members’ safety above your own. A swarm of drones is about to attack.” 

Gabby panicked, _drones?_ Was everything in this castle used to hurt them? She wanted to protect herself and her brother, not the rest of them, “This is only for paladins, right?” 

The rest of the Voltron team seemed confused as well. Coran’s voice sounded throughout the room again, “Well, you will be working with the others so it would be best to complete the exercise with the paladins. It is up to each of you to do everything you can to protect the other members of your team.” 

Hunk flounders as drones lower from the ceiling, “Wait, wait, wait. What’s going on?” 

She gasps as a shield pops out of the cuff of her armour and Hunk says, “Whoa. Did you guys get one of these?” 

“They’re shields, use them,” Gabby told the others in case they hadn’t noticed. 

“Get ready.” Shiro orders and the six of them gather in a circle, all looking out. 

The drones start firing and Gabby was glad that her reflexes were quick from all those times her siblings threw things at her. Hunk was the first to get hit and the floor underneath him disappeared and he fell through. Her eyes widened and she yelled, “Hunk!” but she didn’t look away from the lasers aiming at the others. She had a feeling that he would be safe and Gabby didn’t want to look weak in front of Allura and Coran. They would probably lecture her on being bad. Pidge was the next to go and she let out a groan as she dropped down. 

“Protect your teammates or no one else will be there to protect you!” 

Sighing, Gabby moves her shield from where she was covering only herself and blocks a laser aiming for Shiro. Lance notices and helps block any coming to his sister, the intensity increasing. Shiro is helping block Gabby and Keith but Gabby can’t tell what Keith is doing from the angle she is positioned at. 

“You keeping up over there, Keith?” Lance yells and it sounds like a normal question but Gabby can hear the hint of smugness in his tone. She will have to scold him later for that. They are supposed to be a team and Lance needs to drop his rivalry with Keith or they won’t be able to form Voltron. She’s hoping to speed up the process of their friendship since she can remember Lance still spoke of Keith as hot-headed and called him ‘mullet’ in her timeline. They were friends but something happened between them. 

“Just concentrate on keeping me safe,” Keith replies, short and cold. 

Gabby huffs, “And the rest of us too!” 

“Don’t worry about me, I own this drill. It’s you who-” 

“Less talking, more concentrating!” Gabby interrupts her brother, spinning to look at him quickly but it’s too late. 

A shot hits her in the side and she lets out a scream. The floor underneath her gives out and she tumbles into the darkness. She hears above her Keith scream and then Lance and finally Shiro. All three of them fall down to the floor underneath where everyone else is. Coran groans loudly and the simulation stops as they hurry back up to the training deck. Fortunately, they don’t have to try the exercise again but Coran has another trust exercise to do. He claps his hands together and tells Keith to go up to the control centre and for Lance to stand on the left side. Everyone else is directed to the top viewing area. 

“To form Voltron, you must trust in each other. This ancient paladin maze will teach you that trust. Your teammate can see the walls but you cannot. So, listen carefully to your teammate’s instructions. If you touch the walls, you’ll get a slight shock.” Coran explains and Gabby can’t help but wonder if this is safe. 

Lance looks around and sees that no one else is here with him, “Wait. Who’s guiding me through?” 

“Take two steps forward.” A low, bored voice floods the room and Gabby groans internally. This would not go well. 

“Oh, no. Not Keith.” Lance whines, “Why does he get to be the person on the mic?” 

Coran sighs, “Just do the exercise. You’ll get your turn. We’ll try and do as many pairs as we can have a mix.” 

“Like I said, take two steps forward, turn right, and take three steps that direction,” Keith repeats. 

Her brother, not listening properly, turns right immediately and slams into an invisible wall, electrocuting him. Gabby gasps as he shakes and yells back at Keith, “You did that on purpose!” 

Gabby facepalms as Keith says, “You’re not listening.” 

“You said, ‘Turn right.’” 

“But before that, I said, ‘Take two steps forward,’” 

Lance takes a deep breath, steps forward and mumbles, “Two steps-” His sentence is interrupted when his body is shocked by electricity again. Her brother had forgotten to turn back around to the start. He screams and points up at Keith, “We’re switching places right now!” 

Obviously Lance had either gotten embarrassed that he failed again or hadn’t realised his mistake and blamed it on Keith which is why he was all angry. Keith gets out of the seat but before Lance can leave, Gabby stands up. “Wait, Lance can I try and guide you?” 

Keith looks up at her, “You want to try? Really? It’s like talking to a toddler.” 

“I know,” Gabby replies but when Lance huffs and moves back to the beginning of the maze, she moves to the seat. 

The maze walls appear in front of her and she grins, leaning into the mic, “Okay Lance, this is easy. It’s just like the corn maze, remember?” 

Hunk, who joined the McClains for the maze, snorts and Lance flicks her the finger. “Just joking. Like Keith said, take two steps forward. But not your long ones, like those tiny ones Sofia does when she does her dance classes.” 

Surprisingly, he listens and goes on his tiptoes and takes two small steps forward. The others won’t know who Sofia is, their little cousin, but between her and Lance, it was like secret code. “Turn right.” He does. 

“Good. Now four steps forward and then left six steps and forward ten steps again.” Gabby speeds through and when Lance glances up at her with a worried look, she just adds, “Imagine this is one of our dance routines. Four steps up, six steps left, ten steps up.” 

He nods and his movements are graceful, like the ocean, constantly flowing and he doesn’t stop until he’s where he needs to be. “Then seven steps right, turn left and take two steps forward and then turn to the left and take around five forward. Finally, turn right and take four steps forward and you should be out.” 

Gabby hears him mutter, “Seven right, left, two forward, left, five forward, right, four forward.” 

And then he’s out of the maze and giving me a blinding smile. Coran claps, “Well done you two! That’s what I’m talking about!” 

The others up the top are staring at us shocked and glad and Hunk loops his arm over Lance’s shoulder, “Over your fear of mazes now?” Lance only rolls his eyes in response. The maze activity goes for a while and Gabby goes once with Pidge guiding her. She grazes the wall once and it stings her badly. She wonders how Lance handled running into it twice. Allura seems impressed with our teamwork skills from this exercise but decided they need to work with their bond with their lions. So, the five paladins head to their lions and are told to fly up high. 

Gabby watches from the bridge and listens to Coran explain the exercise while Allura heads off to do something. “You’ll never be able to form Voltron unless each of you have a strong bond with your lion.” 

Lance laughs, “No problem at all. Me and Blue are best buds for life, for real, you can ask Gabby.” 

“He is quite close with Blue.” Gabby says truthfully. 

“Perfect! Then you won’t have any issues with this exercise. Everyone, put your lions into a nosedive!” Coran commands and her heart pounds in her chest, wondering what Coran has planned for them. 

All five lions growl, Coran explaining, “This is an expert-level drill that you really shouldn’t attempt until you’ve been flying for years, but, uh, we’re in a bit of a rush, so here we go. Activating training helmets!” 

They all gasp and Gabby panics, “What’s happening, Coran? What did you do?” 

“I can’t see!” Lance yells. 

“You must learn to see through your lions’ eyes. The goal is to pull up right before you crash into the ground. Feel what the lion feels!” 

This seemed like a good exercise but Gabby was worried they would all just slam into the ground and get hurt. If Zarkon did attack, they would be helpless if everyone was injured. She had to trust in her brother and the others, and even Coran, that they would be okay. The lions kept flying downwards, no one stopping until... 

Hunk whimpers, “Mine feels scared!” 

“That’s probably you, Hunk.” Gabby says into the comms but she isn’t sure if Hunk heard her because the Yellow Lion stops going down and flies back up, no where near the ground. 

“You still going, Keith?” Lance asks and she can almost imagine the smirk on his face. Line. 

Unlike Hunk and her, Keith hasn’t been around Lance long enough to know this is his usual teasing and it’s best to ignore. Instead, he growls, “You know it, You?” 

My brother laughs, “Going? I’m speeding up!” 

“Lance…” Gabby hissed but he disregards her. 

Hook. Keith takes the bait easily and it isn’t his fault, her brother has had a lot of practice doing this with their siblings, “Oh, yeah?” Gabby watches from inside the Castle as both the Red and Blue lion speed up, neither of them taking the exercise seriously. 

“Must be getting close.” Lance said but before Keith could reply, Gabby butts into the conversation. 

“Lance, concentrate.” Coran gives me a grateful look, obviously irritated that the paladins weren’t taking this seriously but too timid to say anything. 

He mutters a “Sorry, Gabby.” and she grins when the Blue Lion slows down to a constant speed. The Red Lion is yanked back but goes off in a different direction, losing control and faceplants into the sand. 

“Ow.” Keith groans and the lion tips over to the side. 

Lance laughs through the comms, “Ha! I win!” 

Pidge’s voice came over the comms, panicked, “What was that noise? Did they crash?” She doesn’t wait for someone to answer and the Green Lion stops diving, closer to the ground than Hunk but not what Coran seemed to be wanting. 

It’s silence, Lance and Shiro still going until Lance whispers, “Whoa.” 

Shiro pulls up just when he needs to and Lance pulls up right after, Blue’s feet grazing the ground and she stumbles a bit when she lands. “I think I’m getting this.” Shiro says and Lance whoops, “Aw yeah!” 

“Excellent, you two! Perfect landing Shiro.” Coran cheers and Gabby claps, proud of her brother for getting it in the end. She wonders what happened in the timeline without her. He probably crashed alongside Keith. Gabby giggles at the thought. 

Coran leads the six of them to the final exercise which is back in the training room but it isn’t physical skills we’re working on. “Now, the most important part of paladin training is being able to meld your minds and focus on one thing: Voltron. So, relax and open your mind. No walls, no secrets between paladins.” 

Despite Gabby wanting to prove herself to the others, she knew there were a few things she couldn’t tell the others. Everything that had happened before Voltron happened was the same in both timelines so she could open that part up but her old timeline and everything she knew was going to happen was a secret. She had watched enough sci-fi movies and Back to the Future to know that there the main rule of time travel was don’t tell anyone about the future, or the past if that was the case. Gabby threw all of that knowledge to the farthest part of her brain so no one would be able to find it. 

“Come on, everyone, clear everything.” She focused on her friends, noticing how Lance thought of their family but how a few members were missing. Their cousins and aunts and uncles were gone along with their sister and brother in-laws and two of their older brothers were missing. Lance wasn’t as close to those two siblings and he had a fight with them before they left Earth. Gabby was present in the picture, standing right next to Lance with a big grin on her face. 

“Now, focus on forming your lion. Bring your lions together and form Voltron. Keep your minds open, work together.” Gabby frowned, she had no lion but something roared inside of her and she pushed it forward to the middle. Opening her eyes a bit, she saw the outline of a lion. She shut her eyes again. “Good! Keep focusing! Only one to go!” 

Pidge appeared to be struggling but she kept her patience, they would find their center at different times, when it felt right. Keith did not seem to agree and snapped, “Pidge, stop thinking of your girlfriend!” 

Gabby peaked over at Pidge’s image, not wanting to go through her mind and pouted when she realised something was wrong. She decided to worry about it later. Pidge barked, “I wasn’t! Hunk was rooting around in my head!” 

“I thought we were open. You can look in my head hole.” Hunk replies and Gabby sighs, he wasn’t hiding anything from them and she wished she could be the same. As free and innocent, no knowledge of the future. It was better she knew what happened already so she could prevent it. 

“Everyone has to be able to look in everyone’s head holes! Clear your minds! Good! Almost there. Now, form Voltron. Yes!” Her lion was clear, not a real one, but it seemed to flow with the others. It seemed to be having fun. 

A presence other than hers was sensed near her mind. She couldn’t pinpoint who it was but they were suspicious of her and the box locked in the deepest of her brain was nudged at. Gabby jumped in surprise and fear, locking down her mind and breaking the connection with the other paladins. At the same time, Pidge took her head set off. Voltron fell apart. No one seemed to notice her accident but Shiro’s gaze directed at her didn’t go unnoticed. Gabby had to be more careful. Luckily, Pidge had covered for her even if it was on accident. 

“Pidge!” My brother yells, groaning. 

“Calm down. Why doesn’t everyone just sit down and we can-” Gabby is interrupted by Pidge throwing her headset to the ground. 

“I’m done with this, okay! Lok, I don’t like everyone grubbing around in my head. There are some things I would like to keep secret.” Pidge shouts. 

Shiro sighs, “Oh, come on Pidge, we’re starting to get the hang of this. Lets try again.” 

Pidge doesn’t sit down, rubbing her head, “Okay. Why don’t we all take a break?” 

“You have been working hard.” Coran agrees, “Maybe it’s time to relax a little.” 

Gabby beams at the suggestion and sips at her water pouch that Coran passed around the group. She leaned against Lance and Hunk, her muscles still aching from the physical activities earlier. Our break ends early when Allura barges onto the training deck, angry to find us all sitting around. 

“What are you doing lying around? You’re supposed to be training!” Allura booms, her hands curled into fists. 

Coran places his hands on her shoulders to try and calm her down, “They’re just resting for a bit. You know, can’t push too hard.” 

Allura scoffed, “What do you mean, “can’t push too hard”?” She turned to the six of us sitting on the floor and clapped at us aggressively, “Get up, you lazy lumps! It’s time you faced the Gladiator!” 

Suddenly we were being forced to stand up, our water pouches were thrown away and Gabby was looking around frantically. The Gladiator sounded big and strong and she didn’t know what to expect. “In order to defeat the Gladiator, five paladins must fight as one.” Coran explained and she groaned internally. They couldn’t even complete any of the exercises, how were they going to fight a Gladiator, whatever that was. 

A white robot with a staff in hand dropped from the ceiling and Gabby got her own staff ready. It ran to Hunk who was distracted and hit in the stomach and he fell to the floor. Keith is knocked over and Pidge as well, landing in a pile. The robot heads for her and she brings her staff but Lance gets in her way and pushes her away, getting hit in the neck and swung onto Keith who is knocked back down. Gabby gets back up from where Lance pushed her too and watches as Shiro freezes up, his eyes widening, and is slammed onto the ground. Gabby feels the fire inside her lit up and she sprints up to the robot and lands a hit on the neck of the robot. Something but it spins around and tosses her onto the ground. 

Everyone groans in pain and Keith grunts as he stands up, pushing Lance off of him, and dashing over to Shiro. “Shiro, are you okay?” Keith asked, not even asking about the rest of them. 

Gabby huffs and watches as the bot turns off and the floor underneath it disappears along with the bot. Allura’s voice fills the room, “The combat simulator was set at a level fit for an Altean child! You’re not even close to working as a team, let alone ready to face Zarkon!” 

“Can we have a break?” Gabby asks. Her stomach grumbled loudly and she blushed when everyone turned to look at her. 

“Yeah, I’m starving!” Hunk adds and Allura dismisses us to the dining room. 

The dining room has a long table with multiple chairs around it. She sits next to her brother on his left and on her other side is Hunk. Green goo in bowls rests in front of us and Gabby feels a bit nauseous, wondering if they were expected to eat this. No one else seemed as repulsed as she was, probably just glad there was food. She did remember older Lance telling her that the food was bland at first but that he got used to it. Gabby wondered how long it would be before she had other food. Too long, Gabby thought, the image of older Lance at their house with older Allura eating two plates of their mama’s food which were piled up. 

Coran grins, “Ahoy, young Paladins! I’ve whipped up a big batch of focusing food. After this meal, you’ll be forming Voltron six times a movement and twice on the astral conflux!” 

Having no idea what the man said, she just nods along and grabs her spoon. Shiro replies, “Smells great, Coran. Thanks.” Gabby can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or not. 

Before she could shove a mouthful of the green goo in her mouth, handcuffs wrap around her wrist and connect her wrists to Lance and Hunk and them to everyone else. She smirks, “This is kinda-” 

“Hold the phone!” My brother yells, interrupting her in his irritation. He narrows his eyes at 

“I saw a lot of solid individual performances today,” Coran looks around the group and he nods at Gabby slightly, “but you’re still struggling to work as a team. So, welcome to the final bonding exercise of the day.” 

Gabby bares her teeth, yanking against the handcuffs but nothing works. Hunk grabs her hand to stop her from hurting her wrist and stares directly at Coran, “I’m going to give you one second to think about what you’re doing.” 

Coran only laughs, enjoying watching us all suffer. She wants to prove him wrong that they can do this, so she picks up her spoon and bends to scoop on goo onto it. Things go downhill fast after this. She knocks into Hunk, dragging Lance along with her which causes Keith to be pulled as well and his hand lands right in her brother’s food goo. Pidge and Shiro aren’t even trying and Gabby isn’t sure who she should help first, her brother who is arguing with Keith now or Hunk who really wants the food goo. 

“Ow!” Hunk yells and Gabby winces when Lance bumps into her and she hits Hunk again. 

“Sorry, Hunk.” 

“Oh nice.” My brother groans to Keith, “You defiled my food goo!” 

Keith retracts his hand from the green goo, “It’s your fault! You pulled me- and you know what? This is ridiculous.” 

Allura grabs her head, “Do Earthlings ever stop complaining?” 

“Um, you are literally complaining about us complaining. If you want us to stop, maybe unhandcuff us?!” Gabby yells but Hunk’s hand holds me back from walking over there and toppling everyone over. 

Shiro sighs, “Can’t you just give us a break? Everyone’s been working really hard today.” 

Before Allura can respond, Keith stands up and raises his hands up as high as they can go, “Yeah! We’re not some prisoners for you to toy with, like, um, like…” 

“Like a bunch of toy prisoners!” Lance finishes and Gabby tries to facepalm but the cuffs restrain her from doing so. Sometimes she wonders if it was all an act or if her brother came up with this stuff himself. 

“Yes! Thank you, Lance.” Keith said, not even noticing how stupid this whole arguement is. 

“You do not yell at the Princess!” Coran shouts and Gabby loves the man, she remembers how kind and sweet he was after the war when her and Lance visited New Altea, but right now, he needed to stop. 

Pidge replies back, “Oh the princess of what? We’re the only ones out here and she’s no princess of ours!” 

_Splat._

Gabby gasps, slightly covering her mouth with her hand since it can’t reach fully. Allura has thrown a clump of green goo straight at Pidge. The fury lits up inside of Pidge and Keith grins, “Go loose, PIdge!” 

They throw a plate of goo at the two Alteans and me and my brother share a look, a plate of goo already in our hands. A food fight breaks out between the eight of them, six against two, and Gabby is reminded of all the times in their house that they had food fights. Usually, one of the younger kids started it and soon Lance was joining in, defending the little ones, and so naturally the rest of us and to attack back. This room had the same atmosphere, they were becoming a family. Perhaps that is what Voltron feels like. Five becoming one, or sometimes six. 

Allura and Coran don’t give up without a fight, flinging food goo back and Hunk smirks, “Oh it’s on.” He and Shiro get spoonfuls of food goo and target them right at their heads. 

“Let’s show these Alteans what us Earthlings are made of!” Gabby shouts, grinning from ear to ear. 

Everyone is laughing when it comes to an end, no food goo left on the plates and instead it’s splattered all over their armour and faces. Despite the stickiness of the goo, Gabby is smiling and giggling and she glances over to the Alteans, expecting them to be angry for ruining their dinner but Coran and Allura are beaming with them. Was this planned all along? Gabby had thought the exercise was to feed each other, not start a food fight. Perhaps it was all a ruse. Or they just didn’t care. 

“Enough!” Allura yells and Gabby shrinks down, bracing herself for the lecture that will come, “Do you see what you’re doing? You’re finally working together as one!” 

Gabby glances around at the five paladins and realization dawns in her mind. During the fight, there was no hesitation in throwing the food or fumbling with the cuffs or knocking into each other. Keith’s eyebrows raise up in surprise, “Hey, she’s right!” 

Lance gives a side look to Keith, “I actually don’t hate you right now.” 

_You never hated him,_ Gabby wants to say but then her brother would hate her instead and everyone else would be confused. It was a small little crush that her brother had in the Garrison on the mysterious guy with a mullet. But everytime Lance tried to talk to him, he would be pushed away. Keith was the best fighter pilot in the class and knew Shiro, Lance’s hero, so naturally Lance made Keith his rival instead. Then Keith disappeared and Lance was bumped up to fighter class and the crush went away along with the rivalry though the comparison to him and Keith stayed. 

“You guys know what I’m thinking?” Hunk says. 

Everyone else grins and Shiro yells, “Let’s go form Voltron!” 

“Yeah!” 

Hunk chuckles softly, “Actually, I was thinking desert. But, yeah! Let’s do it.” 

They go to move but Gabby forgets that they are all cuffed together and so they fall into a pile. Gabby groans along with the others and Coran winces but helps them uncuff themselves. A couple minutes later, the five paladins are in their respective lions and Gabby is on the bridge with Allura and Coran. She has her fingers crossed behind her back, hoping that this works and that they don’t have to do more exercises. 

“Everyone ready to do this?” Shiro asks over the comms. 

“Roger that!” 

“It’s on!” 

“Yes, sir!” 

“I was born ready!” 

Gabby adds in, “I believe in you guys!” 

“Thanks Gabby,” Shiro says, “Let’s go!” 

Everyone cheers and Gabby watches from the bridge as the five lions fly in formation and turn into streaks of colour in the sky- yellow, green, red, blue and black. Then a blast of light and Voltron stands in its place. Is this what they had formed yesterday in the battle? Gabby had seen Voltron form before but she hadn’t seen it in a while and being in the lion when forming was so different then just seeing it form. She wanted to be back in there but not just sitting next to the pilot or helping them but flying the lion, being the sole pilot. Blue growled in her head, _[Not yet, Gabby. Patience is key.] _

Allura grins and turns to Coran, forgetting Gabby is in the room, “I told you I could get them to do it. They just needed a common enemy.” 

Coran nods, “It’s true. Like the old proverb says, ‘A man can be driven to do anything if a beautiful woman is just really, really mean to him.’” 

Gabby raises an eyebrow at the two, “So this was all planned?” 

The two Alteans flush and Coran coughs, pointing to the window, “Oh look, the paladins are done.” 

He is correct, Voltron has seperated into the five individual lions again and are heading back to their hangers. After a few minutes pass, all five paladins are back on the bridge and Coran says, “Lets go to the lounge paladins.” Before Coran could leave though, Gabby stops him. “Wait, Coran. Can I ask you something?” 

“Of course, number four.” 

“Well, why do you call me a paladin as well? I don’t fly a lion and I’m just an extra person really.” Gabby asks, scratching the back of her neck. 

Coran sighs, “Being a paladin does not mean you need to have a lion. I saw you in the battle yesterday, you helped control the Blue Lion’s lasers and made the battle much easier to win.” 

“But the Blue Lion isn’t my lion, it’s Lance’s. He doesn't need help.” 

“No he doesn’t but the Red Lion welcomed you in as well yes? Because she knew you helped her paladin just like you did with Lance. The other lions will soon notice that too.” Coran says, placing his hands on her shoulders, “The last paladins had years to get to know each other and form bonds and eventually form Voltron. We don’t have that time now but it has been easier with someone keeping them on schedule. Don’t you see, Gabby? You are the glue holding the paladins together. During the mind meld, you formed the outline of a lion and though it may not exist, it exists in you.” 

Most of the words went over her head. In the original timeline, she wasn’t even here and the paladins still formed Voltron but she understood that she was still considered a paladin even without having a lion. Hopefully it will become clearer in the future. She thanks Coran anyways. 

“Anytime, number four.” Coran smiles, “Are you going to join us in the lounge?” 

She shakes her head, “Nah, I think I might just head straight to my room. Today’s been a long day.” 

Coran pats her shoulder and exits the bridge going in a different direction than Gabby. She passes the lounge at one point and hears the others talking about going to bed as well. Her room is down the hall but her brother’s is much closer. Lance won’t mind if she spends the night in his room again, will he? His door is closed and when she goes to open it with the code Lance gave her, she notices Pidge’s door is open. Her room is right next to Lance’s so she goes to say goodnight but it’s empty. She goes to leave the room when she steps on a piece of paper. 

“Huh.” 

It’s a photo. The one Hunk had found in Pidge’s bag yesterday and the same one Pidge thought of during the mind meld. She hadn’t seen it very clear before but now as she stares at it, she can definitely see that the boy is not in fact Pidge at all. The boy in the picture isn’t Pidge but Matt Holt and the girl is Katie Holt who is Pidge. It was quite obvious when she saw him almost everyday since her brother was best friends with him. 

Not many people know that Lance and Matt were friends before the Kerberos mission. Lance was in the advanced mathematics class and sat next to Matt in class. Her brother had high grades and top marks, it was the Garrison after all, but you couldn’t study for the practicals so he didn’t do so good on them. One day in class, Matt finished his work early so he was working on something for the Kerberos mission and Lance leaned over and corrected some of his work on it. Matt was shocked and the two became friends and Matt would send him all his work for Lance to check over before he sent it to his officer. 

But then Matt left and disappeared and Lance became a shell of himself. He knew Matt wasn’t dead but he had no proof so when Pidge showed up with an interest in the Kerberos mission, he wanted to know more. 

A question pops up in her mind after she realises this. Why had no one noticed this yet? Did everyone still think Pidge was a boy or was this some conversation they had without her? Panic rises at the feeling of being left out but she pushes it down. If something had happened, Lance would have toldl her and he hadn’t mentioned anything. Pidge would tell everyone when they were ready. So she buries this new found knowledge that perhaps no one else knew and that Pidge had photos of her family who she was searching for. 

Gabby heard footsteps coming her way so she put the photo on the nightstand and left the room, closing it behind her. She wondered if Pidge would tell her that they were actually a girl first or with everyone else. Would she pretend she didn’t know or that she did? She didn’t know how to act around the paladins. Despite Lance being her twin brother, she didn’t see any of the other Voltron paladins a lot in the future, other than Hunk but he was in outer space so it wasn’t often. Now she would see them everyday for four years, or more. The paladins might be the last people she ever sees from Earth. She doesn’t know how much she has changed in this timeline. 

She hopes changing the timeline won’t turn into another mistake. 

**___________________________________________________**  
**This town don't get much to do**  
**You and I haven't get much to do**  
**So do you wanna rot in your room like we always do?**  
**Talk about how fast we grew**  
**And all the big dreams that we won't pursue**  
**Then get in your car and laugh 'til we both turn blue**  
  
**'Cause we are the helpless, selfish, one of a kind**  
**Millennium kids, that all wanna die**  
**Walking in the street with no light inside our eyes**  
**We are the worthless, cursed with too much time**  
**We get into trouble and lose our minds**  
**Something that I've heard a million times in my life**  
**Generation Why**  
  
**\- Generation Why by Conan Gray**  
**___________________________________________________**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, sorry I've been gone so long.
> 
> This chapter is different since it is written in 3rd person which is easier for me. Second, the end is meh because I orginally wrote it where Gabby found out Pidge was a girl and Matt's sister and was like 'what?!' until I remembered that Gabby already knows all of that.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter! 
> 
> Gabby :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading this!!!! I hope you enjoyed this, go read my other books too! please bookmark this so you don't miss anything and leave kudos so I know you liked this! Comment if you have questions or adivce or because you want to! 
> 
> I will update this as soon as I can! Please be paitnet and no hate at all or I will have to take away your ability to comment.


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